


Star Wars Episode IX:

by SenselessWorks



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Badass BB-8, Badass Rey, Ben Solo Needs A Hug, Devoted Ben Solo, F/F, F/M, Force Bond (Star Wars), Force Ghost Anakin Skywalker, Force Ghost Luke Skywalker, Force Ghost Luke is a bit of a jerk, Force Healing, Gen, Kylo Ren Has Issues, M/M, Minor Finn/Rey (Star Wars), Minor Poe Dameron/Rey, Nothing Good Comes Out of the Unknown Regions, R2-D2 is a Droid With a Plan, Rey (Star Wars) Backstory, Rey is not a Palpatine but hes kinda in the backstory, Rey's parents are not who you think, Rise of Skywalker doesn't exist, Suicidal Thoughts, Suicide Attempt, There's Worse Shit Than The First Order
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-20
Updated: 2020-12-29
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:07:30
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 19
Words: 84,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24286354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SenselessWorks/pseuds/SenselessWorks
Summary: After Crait, Rey is filled with regret and self doubt.  Why didn't she take Ben's hand?Kylo Ren is free of the voices in his head, but is directionless without his Master, and feeling abandoned by Rey.Canon divergent after Crait, Ben and Rey must find each other, and join together as the Dyad they were meant to be, and face an evil far worse than the First Order.
Relationships: Finn/Rose Tico, Kaydel Ko Connix/Poe Dameron, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 8
Kudos: 22





	1. The Last Jedi

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The broken lightsaber is a metaphor for Rey's psyche. It's hard to believe only a week or so ago Rey was still on Jakku. A nobody, but with this strange sensation all of her life that she was meant for more. When her instincts proved correct, when her true self was awakened and she rose up in the Force, Rey had felt she was finally somebody. 
> 
> A couple of begrudging lessons from the old hermit on Ahch-To, and some knowledge stolen from Kylo Ren's mind on Starkiller and suddenly these people think she's a Jedi.
> 
> Pulled in multiple directions, Rey had started to fracture at that point, just like the saber.

* * *

_The resistance might as well be gone_ , Rey thought pessimistically as she looked out over the Falcon's main hold. Two days on this ship, so far only stopping once for fuel, and she was ready to call it for what it was. Over.

There were less than two dozen left. Two dozen people who lost friends, family, loved ones as they were hunted across the galaxy by the First Order. Picked off one ship at a time. Then the Battle of Crait.

If things had gone as Rey intended, Crait would never have happened. Ben Solo would be sitting down with his mother right now, helping the resistance fight against the Order. That vision Rey had seen would have come true. But at the last minute, Kylo Ren had clamped down on Ben Solo, and Rey had been too afraid to push him and help Ben back out. The darkness had frightened her, and she didn't want it to overtake her. Yet she _knew_ as an absolute that what happened between them was not supposed to end as it had, like one knows that despite the harshness of the Jakku sun beauty can still be found in simple things like a spine-barrel flower.

He begged her to join him, but Rey had been afraid of the darkness that still swirled in him. Luke had told her she went straight to the dark side - had she refused Kylo in protest of Luke's claim.

The look in his eyes as she closed the ramp of the Falcon still tugged at her. He begged her with his eyes, but she had closed him out of their strange bond as the boarding ramp closed.

Now Rey was filled with an uncomfortable feeling, one she knew instinctively but had never really felt on Jakku. It was a wasted emotion for a scavenger.

Regret.

The broken lightsaber is a metaphor for Rey's psyche. It's hard to believe only a week or so ago Rey was still on Jakku. A nobody, but with this strange sensation all of her life that she was meant for _more_. When her instincts proved correct, when her true self was awakened and she rose up in the Force, Rey had felt she was finally _somebody_. 

A couple of begrudging lessons from the old hermit on Ahch-To, and some knowledge stolen from Kylo Ren's mind on Starkiller and suddenly these people think she's a _Jedi_.

Rey knew she was nobody. Rejected by her parents who sold her off to Unkar Plutt. Somehow unlucky enough to forge a bond with a monster who should have been her enemy, but killed his Master to save her, then offered to share his power with her. 

She had always been painfully alone, wanting someone, but now was afraid to _not_ be alone. 

So it had all been going around and around in her mind since she sat with Leia right after Crait, when General Organa had mourned her brother and the further fall of her son, and Rey had _felt_ that grief emanating from the frail looking woman. Rey couldn't break the General's heart further by sharing what Kylo had told her - Ben Solo might still be with them if Luke hadn't raised his saber against his own nephew.

Ben Solo might still have come back to them if Rey had held her nerve.

Pulled in multiple directions, Rey had started to fracture at that point, just like the saber. And every hour since she left Kylo unconscious on the throne room floor, Rey had become more certain she had thrown away something important, to save people she didn't really know. The droids bring her more comfort than the people, especially BB-8.

Apart from Finn and Chewie though, these people are basically strangers.

Poe seemed nice enough, had been attentive to anything she had to say, and saying very nice things to her. Poe made sure she remembered to eat and drink, that she had a warm blanket and a comfortable place to rest after her shifts in the cockpit. The sort of thing Finn might do as her friend, and if he hadn't been so busy with the girl called Rose. But Poe's attentions seemed a little more deliberate, obvious, and not the ease of a friend.

Rey was certainly not experienced with social niceties, manners or romance. She definitely knew enough from observation of the pleasure women at Niima outpost to recognise that Poe is engaged in some kind of courtship ritual with her, but he also seems to be doing the same with Kaydel. The short blonde haired girl wears braids like Leia's, and Poe is quite attentive to her. Is it because he likes Kaydel, or is it because Kaydel seems to be close to Leia?

Rey had never been around so many people, in such a small space, for so long. The noise - too many conversations at once. The smells - of sweat and body odour, stale rations, and the faint foulness of slow draining wastes as the 'fresher struggled to cope with a system designed for less than half their number.

She used to lie on her little bed in her AT-AT, crying her loneliness away and dreaming of an island. An island that, when she finally found it, was filled with disappointments (Luke) and an unexpected treasure (her connection with Kylo) that she threw away not realising the value of it. Strange that a scavenger could make such a miscalculation. Perhaps a mere week or so of regular food had softened her instincts already.

Now surrounded by these people she's known for such a short time, they oppress her. She would rather be alone again.

By day five, Rey was hiding in the number three hold, just off the engineering bay. She had taken the Jedi texts from their hiding spot in the lounge, and sought a quiet place to be alone with the knowledge within them, and her thoughts.

She wasn't sure where she picked up reading. There are no schools on Jakku, and Rey thought she was probably sold to Unkar at five, maybe six years of age. At that age she should have been able to recall something of her parents, but all she knows is the day they left and what Kylo told her he saw in her mind. Had they once loved her enough to sit her on a lap, reading from a book, and pointing out the letters? Or had they always been drunks who couldn't wait to be free of her? 

Reading had allowed her to excel as a scavenger. Not only did Rey seem to have some kind of instinct for where the most valuable items were, but being able to read Less time wasted when she could read a label and identify what something was, she could read blueprints and technical manuals to determine the purpose of things, rebuild them... none of the other children Unkar had owned could read.

If she had taken Kylo's proffered hand she would have had a teacher, but now that Luke was gone and she'd rejected Kylo's offer she had to teach herself. All she had were these books, so it's a good thing she can read them.

 _No lightsaber though_ , she though to herself as she idly stroked the broken pieces sitting in her bag amongst the books. A saber seemed so essential to her image of a Jedi, surely these books would have something that could help her.

Not that she wants to be a Jedi anyway.

One of the walls of number 3 hold backed on to the main corridor, and as it was the only spot with space to spread out her books and the thin blanket she had scavenged from one of the bunks Rey had chosen that wall. The books could be heavy in their prose, with some of the entries difficult to interpret, and without meaning to she had drifted off to sleep with her back pressed against the wall, the book dropping softly into the blanket spread over her thighs.

She was rudely awakened by loud footsteps in the main corridor - two sets - that stopped for a few moments directly on the other side of the wall she was resting against. Their hushed voices should not have been so easy to hear but with the Force her sense had become heightened.

"So she's a Jedi then." More statement than question, and she recognises the voice. Poe Dameron.

"Look I don't know man. All I know is I thought we were gonna die when Kylo Ren found us in the forest. I was out, but we survived."

Finn?

"You saw those rocks... she's did that. She has to be a Jedi"

Rey stretched soundlessly, but nothing particularly bothered her about people discussing her. After all, she knew her fierceness was often talked about on Jakku, and it probably gave a fair few thugs with an intention to do her harm pause to better rethink their plans. She ignored most of what they were saying, letting it filter through her brain without sticking to anything, until she fixed on something Poe was saying.

"Listen we aren't going to win this war against the First Order," Poe's voice was serious. "At least not while Kylo Ren is waving that saber around."

"He's got years of experience and training. She wont last five minutes against him."

"She's beat him before."

"Poe," Finn was incredulous. "He was injured! "

"Look I like her, but we need the spark of hope a Jedi would bring us. She's the last of them, there nobody else to turn to. And if she beats him even better."

Rey frowned. It seemed even amongst the resistance, the supposed righteous side, Rey was only important to people based on the worth she brought them. Not wanting to hear any more, she blocked out the sound of their voices and tried to meditate.

They moved on then, past her little hiding space, and Rey was alone again.

The Resistance set down on Dankayo, a cold snowy world that Lei informed Rey had once been a Rebel facility. There had been a sadness about Leia as they had approached, and Rey had felt a strange prickle of cold as if a shard of ice had been driven under the skin where her head joined her neck, and was slowly melting. Something terrible had happened in this part of the galaxy, and when Leia could see Rey was affected by it, she told Rey the story of Alderaan. Her home, until the Empire had decided to destroy it as testimony to their mighty Death Star it's capacity to destroy a planet.

They had passed through that part of the galaxy where Alderaan had once been. 

Rey was horrified at the capacity for people to do such dreadful things to each other. And whilst Poe had taken the opportunity to opine that the First Order was the modern equivalent of the Empire and needed to be stopped, Rey couldn't stop thinking about how her worth to him was as a Jedi. Something she knew she was not.

The entire situation she had found herself in since BB-8's cries outside her AT-AT had dragged her in to all this mess was just too much. She remembered how Finn had wanted to run on Takodana, and she had a similar impulse.

Rey wanted out of it all, thank you very much. Escape from First Order, the Resistance, the whole damned war and not get killed. Survival, after all, is what Jakku had honed her for. Getting in to a war is the antithesis of survival.

The cold was excruciating, but there was some charm to it, Rey supposed. From a home world where every drop of moisture was precious, Dankayo had so much of it to spare. Frozen of course, but it soon melted to a useful state and Rey found the novelty of snow enchanting. Rose had mostly recovered from her head injury at this point, and Rose and Finn introduced Rey to snow fights, building snow sculptures, and sledding. Rey had never realised sand wasn't the only thing that came in dunes. _Snow_ _banks and snow drifts_ _silly,_ Rose had laughed, but it was without any malice. 

Her room, which she shares with Rose and Kaydel, is bigger than her AT-AT by at least three times, and they have their own 'fresher. With so much water that it is the first time in her life Rey feels truly clean. She can wash daily, twice daily or even more if she likes. A shower or bath with real water was a rare treat in the desert, and Rey positively revelled in the sinful delight. 

But they would not stay long. Leia had called for the reprieve here to allow them to rest, gather any supplies that might be useful, and scout the final location. It helped that there were still some old rebel craft here. Unlike many of the rebel bases, this satellite facility wasn't abandoned due to a raid. It had stood until the end of the war and then closed because it was no longer needed.

Rose had asked for help to repair some of the vessels and ensure their were space worthy. Few of the remaining resistance members were particularly skilled mechanics or engineers, although the remaining pilots had some basic knowledge, Rey, who had been replacing parts and repairing ships for Unkar for years as a means to supplement her portions, found herself Rose's second in command on the project and spending most of her days in the hangar working on the craft.

It was late one evening when Rey had been working well into the night to fit a particularly fiddly bit of wiring in the engine cowling of an old shuttle that Rey found it. It was accidental, she was tired and wiping engine grease for her aching fingers when she misstepped, tripping over a piece of twisted metal and slamming into a wall panel. But unlike the rest of the wall, there was a false partition here and Rey found the wall slide open for her. It rolled closed again as she entered the space, but now that she knew where the mechanism was located she wasn't worried about being trapped.

An old modified X wing, two seater from the looks of it. Probably a training craft, since X-wings were generally single occupant. You could fly them without the droid assistant, although the additional work could be tiresome. Rey ran her fingers over the main fuselage, inspecting and appreciating what she found. The inherent value of this ship was obvious to her - it appeared to be in excellent condition despite it's age, and would have earned her enough portions and water to survive at least a month on Jakku.

She would have to check the wiring and electricals, and find a time when she could test the engine and check the fuel levels.

But somehow Rey just knew there was nothing wrong with the ship. And nobody else knew it existed.

Scavenger rules - if she found it and could keep it secret, it was hers.


	2. I see you, Scavenger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A probe droid had caught site of the Millenium Falcon first, then set about cataloguing various other ships. It seemed they had grown in terms of their vessel numbers, but the report indicated the number of individual members had not grown.  
> In fact, according to the feed sent by the probe, it looked as though it may well have decreased by one.  
> The grainy images were perhaps a few hours before dawn looking at the light and the chronometer on the feed. What looked like a snow covered hillside seemed to slowly peel open, showing a single small vessel in a secreted hanger. The figure walking to the ship was too indistinct to be sure, but when he saw the staff slung across her back Kylo knew exactly who it was.

* * *

Snoke had promised Kylo Ren power and glory, and that one day the galaxy would quiver at his feet. That he would rise higher even than his Grandfather, Vader, and become the ultimate power in the galaxy

Kylo had told himself many time this was why his master treated him the way he did. He was strict and attentive in teaching his apprentice, preparing Kylo for his future. Kylo had been berated and belittled by him, endured painful and humiliating lessons, and yet he had failed to grasp the lessons of his mentor. Kylo had prostrated himself at Snoke's feet and begged the Supreme Leader to favour him with his teachings, to mould him into what he must be to fulfil his destiny, yet he still struggled to obey.

Kylo's visions since turning to the dark side had always been of him, on the throne of a new Empire. In the visions he had not been alone, finally someone by his side. He had never seen the face of his companion, the visions had never granted him that gift, yet somehow he had felt it. In the months before the Hosnian Cataclysm, when Kylo had been hunting for the map to Skywalker, he had felt something changing in the Force. At first he had presumed it as anticipation, a thrum in the Force that signalled Kylo was on the right path to Skywalker and the next step in his path. 

His dreams, however, had told a different story. Snapshots, feelings, fragments of thoughts that were not his own. 

_He felt warmth. Heat. Like the hottest summer day on Chandrilla but without the soothing breeze._

_Thirst. Slaked enough to survive a day but rarely satisfied. Hunger, so profound that his belly ached._

_Leaping over twisted metal, but it wasn't his body - too light in body and spirit. He had made that very same twisting leap over a broken metal chair only a few days before. Chased down an old bounty hunter with a clue to the map. But the dream jump was did not have the weight of an impending death as his own had._

_Sliding down the precariously tilted deck of a twisted wreck, catching a quick glimpse as the body he was inhabiting slid past a reflective surface - pale clothes, long toned limbs, an impression of dark hair pulled back in three small buns._

Dismissed as meaningless daydreams of a lonely man at the time. Now, Kylo thought these images that came to him in dreams might have been the first hints of the strange Force connection to the scavenger.

Despite his dismissal of those visions, he had still somehow known it was her. When that officer, Mitaka, had told him there was a girl travelling with the traitor and the droid Kylo had somehow known that the other half of his destiny was upon him.

At their first meeting he offered to teach her, and she had rejected him. Yet when they connected on her pointless quest for Skywalker, he had allowed himself to be vulnerable to her anyway. He had shared with her one of the worst moments of his life, the last straw that led to the death of the weak and foolish Ben Solo and the slow rise of the mighty Kylo Ren. 

After that bond she came to him on the Supremacy, willingly submitting herself to him. Kylo had been forced to concede that the Supreme Leader was indeed wise. For if she was joining him, his destiny was unfolding as the Force had promised him it would. She would learn her lessons at Snoke's feet, as Kylo had, and they would be together once she too had been moulded into what she must be to fulfil their destiny together

She had refused to submit, and Kylo had not been able to bear her tortured screams - the remnant of the weak and foolish boy he had been was tortured too. Every agony inflicted on her was inflicted on him, and this was not empathy for her he felt but actual pain. He could actually _feel_ it through their strange connection. Snoke shattered his vision, claiming she was his counterpoint in the Light and must be destroyed for him to fulfil his destiny

Kylo realised he felt something for her. Not master to pupil, but something deeper, more human. Primitive, instinctual, _essential_. 

He had become a master of deception on the matter of his intentions. He had found if he let Snoke in on some superficial level, offered a version of his thoughts but not their true meaning or intent, his Master was too arrogant to examine further. The skill was learned slowly over many years of Kylo's servitude. And it had eaten at him, added to his conflicted state, for he knew that if fully submitted and let Snoke have all of it he could be brought to heel and obey. He didn't understand why he resisted. But he did. Perhaps it was his destiny, because when the need to save the scavenger became clear to him, he was glad of the talent. He did exactly as the Supreme Leader commanded, except the target was someone else.

Destiny, it seemed, was a kriffing joke. Yes, he'd saved her, and they'd taken down the guards together. But then he had no idea what to do next. The dark side was his destiny, and Snoke had told him that included the throne and a new Empire. Since it was his destiny to rule, even if it did seem sooner that expected, Kylo looked at Snoke's throne and saw his opportunity. And he had expected her to join him, for that too was his destiny, and it seemed obvious to him that their shared connection was proof of it.

The very look on her face when he offered her his hand, told him she wanted to join him. Compelled to, because her destiny was to rule by his side . They had promised each other, when they touched hands, they were not alone. He was so certain, despite the flicker of indecision in her face when she realised he wasn't going to save the resistance, that the blow of her rejection was far worse this time.

The resistance were the past, they meant nothing to him, they should mean nothing to her either. All she had to do was let go of that past and become all she was meant to be.

The first week of Kylo's reign was punctuated with angry outbursts, destroying wall panels, consoles, anything that he finds offensive or that will give him five minutes of peace, five minutes to breath and not explode. Lieutenant Mitaka was simply grateful the Supreme Leader was destroying things, and not _people_.

Kylo hated her. He refused to call her by her name ever again. Whether raging and ordering her captured in public, or screaming alone in his quarters, she was variously referred to as "scavenger", "desert rat" and occasionally "Jedi scum", but mostly a female pronoun sufficed. It was extreme enough that Hux, who had his initial suspicions about what had occurred to Ren's predecessor, had come to believe Ren's story. For the most part at least

And yet despite his hatred of her that he made a point to tell his subordinates and reaffirm to himself constantly, he couldn't stop thinking about her. The memories of how it felt to touch of her fingers across their bond, or of her back to his as they fought the guards. Or how he had woken up alone in the throne room, and she was gone. She had obviously woken first, but she hadn't killed him, and his lightsabre was clipped to his belt. Fool girl had yet to learn the importance of disarming your enemy, to take advantage of their weakness and vulnerabilities.

Of course she _had_ left him to the questionable mercy of Hux, and it was just luck he'd come to before the ginger bastard could kill him. 

It began with endless meetings, shaping the leadership of the Order to fit his desire. Bureaucracy was punctuated by hours of rage fuelled screaming in his quarters, flecks of spittle flying, as he poured out 29 years of pain, abandonment and rejection. There was only his destiny, to continue the path the Force lhad aid out for him from childhood, and he channelled his pain into strength. Along with the Order, he was reshaping Kylo Ren. No longer would he allow that weak and foolish boy to interfere. It wasn't enough that his reign brought order from chaos. He must remove the chaos from himself as well.

And the scavenger must be excised too. She had denied him the destiny he was promised by his visions, with her at his side. The Knights of Ren were charged with hunting her down, but he wanted to kill her himself.

After a month, Kylo had assembled a Supreme Council. Some of the choices he found difficult to live with, but despite his rage and instability he recognised the need of bureaucrats in the smooth running of any government. After all, the woman who birthed him had been a politician. Kylo detested most of them, but they were necessary, and once the protocols and standing orders by which the First Order would operate had been determined to his satisfaction there would be greater efficiency and the Order would require less of his time. All the better for him to seek out knowledge and power beyond military might, and to join the hunt for the scavenger.

His throne was not the gaudy thing Snoke had chosen, but simply a taller, broader chair at the head of the table in the Council room. The mega-class dreadnought Supremacy had effectively been the roaming capital of the First Order, but to Kylo it was a waste of resources he refused to rebuild. The Finalizer was sufficient to his needs for now - he had his training rooms and his personal TIE vessels, his personal troops. And the fact that Hux had to now answer to Kylo on a ship Hux had previously controlled was merely a delicious sweetener. Ultimately the Council expected him to chose a larger vessel, arguing the optics were better for his title. For now Kylo couldn't care less.

When the intelligence operatives brought the days report to them, he was ideally positioned to observe the reactions of the others at the table when the feed was played.

It seemed the resistance had been to an old base out on Dankayo. A probe droid had caught site of the Millenium Falcon first, then set about cataloguing various other ships. It seemed they had grown in terms of their vessel numbers, but the report indicated the number of individual members had not grown.

In fact, according to the feed sent by the probe, it looked as though it may well have decreased by one.

The grainy images were of a night scape, perhaps a few hours before dawn looking at the light and the chronometer on the feed. What looked like a snow covered hillside seemed to slowly peel open, showing a single small vessel in a secreted hanger. The figure walking to the ship was too indistinct to be sure, but when he saw the staff slung across her back Kylo knew exactly who it was.

"I see you, scavenger," Kylo's crooned.

She threw something into the cockpit, followed by the staff, and climbed in. Kylo could see the grounds around the hangar light up suddenly, but the craft was in the air and winging away before the half dozen resistance fighters could be seen breaking into the hangar. And of course she saw the probe droid, shooting it down as she headed for the stars.

Kylo leaned back in his chair to rub his chin thoughtfully. He had been left with the distinct impression she hadn't left on good terms, for not only had she been obviously sneaking out, but one of them had ludicrously shot at her with a blaster. Part of him thought it would be a fitting end to see her shot down, but at that range a blaster pistol would not make significant damage. Surely he preferred to take care of her himself anyway. 

He had his own division, along with the Knights, sent to Dankayo. It would not yield him much, Kylo already knew the Resistance would be gone, but perhaps they had left some clue to where they were headed.

Kylo Ren retired to his chambers at the start of the third shift, early for him but with nothing more he wanted to discuss with his subordinates. The emptiness he felt was all encompassing, and he wanted to be alone. Kylo stripped off most of his layers of clothing - black cape, doublet, outer shirt, boots and heavy pants - to sit in his shorts at the end of his bed and simply stare at the far wall. He had been able to meditate one, but since he had joined the dark side found it far harder. It couldn't be achieved without Vader's mask, but since he had killed Snoke the mask no longer helped him.

After a while he remembered an exercise from his childhood, one a friend of his mother's had taught him to help with his anxiety around people.

_Try to empty all thoughts from your mind, Ben. Breathe in and out, and let each muscle relax in turn. If you let go of the tightness, you let go of the fear that drives it._

As soon as Kylo began to relax, he felt that familiar pressure at the base of his skull and the faint sound of blood rushing through his ears.

Not a true connection as he had come to experience them. He couldn't really see her, she was still locking him out. But the scavenger was dozing, half asleep, and Ren had the distinct impression she was please with herself. But it was tinged with misery too. There seemed to be a deep sadness and loneliness in her again, the same one she had borne when they first began to connect and he had felt it recede when they touched hands. If he was honest with himself, it seemed to return in the throne room when they had become enemies again. He remembered how his words had made her cry.

The connection did not last, slamming closes as the scavenger began to become more alert, and then she was gone. But at the last moment, he though he heard something.

_"Ben?"_

He trembled, unsure if it was real or a figment of his troubled mind. Kylo calmly stepped into the dining room of his quarters, and tore the room apart with his light saber.


	3. You Need A Teacher

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey knows exactly 6 places in the galaxy - Jakku, Takodana, D'qar, Ahch-To, Crait and Dankayo.
> 
> Actually if it still existed she'd know 7 places, but she helped destroy that one (Starkiller). She just fled one of them, (Dankayo), so that's definitely out of the question. Once of them was recently evacuated and probably still has a First Order presence (D'Qar). One of them she was kidnapped from and dare not show her face in case he comes for her again (Takodana) and one is full of disappointments and missed opportunities (Ahch-To) she would rather not relive.
> 
> So Rey can chose to point to a corner of the galaxy and hope she has enough fuel to get there, that the unknown is favourable and is something she can survive. Or she can go somewhere she no longer thought she'd ever go back to, a place she had survived for 15 years.
> 
> It's not really a question, is it? She doubts anyone would come looking for her here - nobody willingly goes there and who would escape the place only to return?

* * *

Almost from the moment Rey realised she had a means of escape, it seemed she only had one place to go. It's not like her list of known locations in the galaxy is long, and most of the ones she knows are out of the question. 

She could run away to somewhere new, but the problem with the unknown is you don't know if you can survive there until you've tried it. What if she ran out of fuel before she found a habitable world? What if she landed smack in the middle of a First Order base she wasn't aware of?

Considering recent events, she could narrow it down to three options.

Takodana was tempting, and she longed for that beautiful green. Granted it had been over a month since Kylo had taken her from there, which was why she even entertained the idea, but Maz's place was still the kind where the First Order would be informed almost immediately. Maz's is only one location on the planet, but she didn't know enough about the rest of the planet to consider alternatives. 

Ahch-To was definitely remote enough, but too painful. Not only did Luke disappoint her there, but Rey associated the island with Ben. The boy she failed to save from the monsters. And she was fairly certain that the Caretakers hated her. And whilst Rey has the route to Ahch-To hidden on a datastick, she never wiped it from the Falcon's computer either. Kylo Ren might not be able to find her there, but Poe could.

Jakku, Rey told herself, was the _only_ logical choice. After all, who escapes it and then voluntarily comes back? She knew how to blend in, could scavenge for portions again, and she knew she could _survive_ there. After all, she did it for almost 15 years.

Rey brooded on her fate as the ship tunnelled though hyperspace.

It wasn't that she missed the place - nobody could miss Jakku - but it was like a dead thing in the Force and it had kept her hidden before. The worst thing about the place, and it had _plenty_ of things about it that were unpleasant, was the loneliness. Still alone was better than the oppressive closeness of the Resistance, better than being dragged into a war where she would be expected to choose a side. The First Order stood for everything wrong in the galaxy - subjugation, corruption, cruelty - but it was also where she would find Ben. The resistance did not have clean hands either. Poe had argued with her that it was the inevitable nature of war - sometimes you had to sacrifice your soul a little for the greater good. 

Rey would rather be alone and not a part of any of it. Even so, she was afraid to feel that same despair she had felt lying alone in her AT-AT at night. 

When the brooding gave way to exhaustion, she dozed uncomfortably in the forward pilot's seat. Even then, her brain worked feverishly to sort out her emotions. Tossing and turning, she found herself half dreaming of him. Though she had wanted to hate him for Han Solo's death, through the force connection they had developed she had come to care for him. The bond had made her feel cared _for_ too, his presence pushing away her loneliness. Now, she dreamed that he was there again, watching over her.

Rey stirred, and whispered his name. "Ben?"

The late afternoon sun was low on the horizon as the modified T65 X-wing approached Rey's old dwelling in the Gozoan Badlands. She remained alert as the ship made it's approach to land, using the new found Force as well as her eyes and ears to look out for danger. No other life forms, no danger lurked in the AT-AT.

Rey had hardly dared to hope everything would be intact, since scavengers steal even from their neighbours if they are desperate enough. But the relatively remote location, combined with her already fearsome reputation before she had left the plant, had meant none had yet been tempted. It also didn't hurt that she was known for setting booby traps around her home.

The untouched nature of her old home seemed like a sign from the fates. The crate of stored portions she had left was buried beneath the rear of the AT-AT remained, as was the small keg of stale but otherwise drinkable water. She had learned the value of emergency stores when she had been caught for a whole week in a sandstorm, unable to leave her shelter and slowly dying of thirst and hunger.

Save for needing to replace the speeder she had left at Niima outpost, she could step straight back in to her old life if she so desired. It had been in her mind to do just that when she chose to come here.

And yet.... staring at the marks on the wall, something about that plan did not feel right. To go back to that life of loneliness, waiting for someone to come for her... except nobody was coming back for her. Rey had known it to be true the moment Maz had told her they were never coming back. She wanted to take comfort in Maz's promise that there was someone who could, that her belonging was ahead of her.... but Rey could not see how that was possibly true. Who wanted her for herself, rather than her abilities? That kind of belonging she already had as a slave on Jakku, and she wasn't going to give up one form of slavery for another. Even if it was dressed up in nicer clothes and regular food.

Rey picked up the small stuffed Rebel doll she had made herself, grabbed the old pilot's helmet, and sunk down on her cot. The waning light warned her the sun would soon set, and Rey supposed she should be settling her home for the night, but a deep weariness had set in. Instead, she rolled on to her side and pulled a few of the thin blankets around her. She lay there holding to her chest the last physical remnants of her lonely childhood, the doll and the helmet that had allowed her imagination an outlet.

Despite her deep exhaustion, Rey did not sleep quietly, tossing and turning through half dreamed shadows and whispers. Slowly however, they solidified into something more, dreams with more substance, more meaning, and remembered in waking early light

_Ben Solo sat on the end of her bed, crosslegged, one arm stretched out as he pointed at the marked wall. He wore clothes rather similar to Han Solo - well fitted dark canvas pants, an open necked white shirt, and an unbuttoned black vest. His boots had been left by the entrance. The eyebrow marred by his scar was raised in questioning as he looked up at Rey. She smiled at him, tucking a loose strand of his hair away from his cheek, then looked over to the wall he pointed at._

_"What's the story with the marks?"_

_Rey smoothed her cloth wrap against the tunic below, and crossed her arms under her breasts._

_"Just the past."_

_He didn't understand, so she elaborated further with a sad sigh._

_"A mark for each day since my parents left me."_

_Ben pointed at the neighbouring wall, also marked but with far less etches. A much shorter period of time recorded here, and as they stared at it together one of the etch marks slowly erased itself. A countdown._

_"And this one Rey?"_

_Rey stifled a sob. "The future. A mark for each day until you die."_

_Rey was alone in the throne room. The bodies of the Praetorian Guard were all gone, in their place piles of ash. She willed her eyes to look at the place she had left Kylo, lying on the floor unconscious after their fight._

_The saber they had fought over lay broken between two uneven piles of ash, and the burnt remains of Kylo Ren's cross guard saber lay within the larger pile._

_A voice cackled in the darkness. "Well, well."_

_Looking up at the direction it had come, Rey noticed Snoke lurking in the shadows. As he stepped forward into the muted light, Rey observed a multitude of identical Snoke's behind him, half hidden in the shadows_

_"Darkness rises, and light to meet it," Snoke rasped. "Yet one extinguishes the other."_

_Rey's boots crunched in the snow._

_Red and blue light clashed, Rey on the defensive and pushing back against Ren. She was struggling, the larger fighter had the advantage, yet she was still alive. Ren was holding back, but he still had her backed against a precipice, a great crack in the earth behind her._

_"You need a teacher!"_

_Rey shook her head. Between the cold in her feet and legs, the fierce heat of the locked sabers in her face, and Ren's overwhelming presence, Rey was confused._

_"I can show you the ways of the Force!"_

_"The Force?"_

_Her eyes closed, and she felt it. An energy that surrounded her, Kylo, the sabers. It was in every cell of her body, calling to her. The Force._

_She opened her eyes and looked at Ren._

_Her voice was soft when she spoke. "I know what I have to do."_

_Rey extinguished the saber, attaching it to her belt. Kylo stood back, his own saber still lit in his right hand, but he had lowered it for now._ _He looked at her suspiciously, but found no artifice in her expression, then nodding extinguished his weapon. He didn't put it away, rather he gripped the hilt tightly in his right hand, clenching and relaxing his fingers slightly in turn. A small twitch had set into the angle of his jaw, not far from where the scar she had given him would have burnt into him had the fight kept going as she remembered._

_"Teach me, Ben."_

_Rey slowly extended her right arm, the palm and fingers of her hand open, until her small hand lay on top of the clenched fist holding the saber._

_"Teach me", Rey repeated softly._

_Kylo's free hand gently covered the one she had rested on his fist. Rey blinked, then the crack behind her widened as Starkiller further imploded. He tried to grab her hand, but it slipped as she stumbled backwards. She reached out both hands for Kylo, and he rushed forward to grab for her hand again. The made contact for a brief moment, two of her fingers snagging a glove, then she slipped away from him._

_Ben was calling her from far away. "You need a teacher."_

_Rey was climbing, pulling herself up the wall of the huge crevice she had fallen down. She looked up, trying to find Kylo, but the light above was too bright. Warm, yellow light._

_The wall she climbed was dusty, yellow and grey dusts, cracked and dry stone. Not the dark, earthy colour of the crack she had fallen into._

_"You need a teacher." Luke, as close as if he was right beside her, climbing. But a quick glance on either side showed Rey she was still alone._

_The climb was long - Rey looked down to see how far. It looked as though the ground below merges into infinity, and it seems as if the climb up is still a long way, though surely not forever now._

_After she climbed a little further, a shadow is cast over her. A robed figure peered over the edge of a large space cut into the cliff face, to look down at her. At first Rey hoped it was Kylo, but then she noticed the ragged cloth, old pieces of armour, and the long white beard._

**_Dead-ender._ **

_Kriff!_

_But the expected barrage of rocks and garbage that Rey had come to associate with his kind was not thrown at her. He still voiced the usual repetitive strings of meanginless numbers and letters, but in muted and calmer tone that she was used to._

_As Rey reached the ledge, the dead-ender knelt down to reach for her. It pulled her over the ledge and onto the floor of the space beyond. He remained on his knees before her, and prostrated himself_

_"You need a teacher, " croaked the dead-ender._

_Rey hadn't even had a chance to regain her breath, tired after her climb, when an ominous chill ran through her. First she heard the heavy mechanical breathing, and then her eyes flicked towards a dark robed figure standing in front of a huge blast door in the rock._

_"You need a teacher," intoned Darth Vader. But the saber he ignited and raised is not the red she associates with the dark side. Instead, a familiar silver and black hilt was in Vader's hands, and the light of the blade was a familiar shade of blue - the same saber that lay broken in her bag and would never flame again._

Rey blinked awake as the first fingers of light entered the AT-AT. She was still rolled around the doll and the helmet, blankets wrapped around her. She pulled the doll out first, eyeing it fondly before setting in on the little shelf above the head of her cot. The helmet was subject to further inspection, and it filled Rey with a strange sense of foreboding. Carefully, Rey traced the Aurebesh letters that named the original owner. _Captain Raeh._ There was a dark thought behind that name that Rey immediately quelled, swallowing it back down before she became consciously aware of it..

 _Let the past die_.

Rey shivered, remembering Kylo's words. He was right though, what use did this revisiting of her old life serve? Why look back on her sad, meagre posessions?

So _why_ was she here on Jakku again, if not to return to her pointless waiting for someone who would never come? She had so rapidly dismissed any other hiding place, finding too much fault with all of others she considered except here. Did the Force want her to come here, or was she just some sad broken thing returning to her beginnings with a hopeless wish that a repeat would yield a different outcome?

Or had the Force clumsily guided her back to Jakku for another reason?

Before she had left Jakku, Rey had generally scoffed at the idea that dreams had any specific sort of message or special meaning. If she attributed them to anything it was perhaps how busy her mind had been that day, if she had a particular problem, or if she was especially lonely. Her sleeping mind revisiting her waking life and ruminating on it. Since her first vision, when she had touched the lightsaber that had called to her from beneath Maza's castle, Rey had begun to leave room in her personal philosophy for the more spiritual. The Force. And her dreams the night before had felt more than simple dreams. They conveyed the same unease that first vision had given her, and had the distinct impression that she was here for something else.

The first dream she had been here, in her AT-AT with Ben Solo. She was sure there was plenty of _emotions_ and fears to unpack in that one, but she was already here in the AT-AT and apart from the vision/dream itself nothing had happened here - and it didn't feel like anything was going to happen. Most of the other dreams had involved other places, but perhaps the last one ought to be considered further.

She had never been to Carbon Ridge herself, although had passed by it a few times. It lay to the South of the Gozoan Badlands, and she could walk there if she had to although it would take the better part of a day without her speeder. Further, if she had to climb it, she had to do so earlier in the morning or late in the afternoon to avoid the worst of the heat and sun. That meant, assuming she found shelter overnight, at least two days just to get there and the climb it. She would have to take her X-wing then, although the idea of leaving it out in the open at Carbon Ridge where anyone could scavenge or even steal it was not appealing.

After a breakfast of portions from her stash, she quickly changed from her dirty travel worn clothes into one of the new, clean outfits she had brought with her from the Resistance. Soft gray three quarter pants, sturdy boots, and a sleeveless tunic in the same grey as her pants. She added one of her old dust yellowed wraps from a crate in her home, knowing it would provide her some protection from the harsh sun around Carbon Ridge. 

Rey sat on her cot and spread out the contents of her satchel. There wasn't much - the stolen texts, the broken lightsaber pieces, a canteen of water and a few ration bars. Logically she knew carrying the texts would be challenging if she truly had to climb the Ridge, but she didn't feel they could be left anywhere safe against scavengers. The lightsaber, though broken, was also far too valuable to leave behind. She could subsist for a few days on only a few portion kits and her few ration bars, but the single canteen of water wasn't enough. By rights she would need to carry at least two of them, and double that if she could afford the weight. 

With only a broken saber she needed her staff for protection as well, which might make the act of climbing difficult if it came to that. But whilst she'd never walked Carbon Ridge herself, she'd seen dead-enders from a distance and heard plenty of stories about them. Going unarmed was out of the question. She packed all of it back in to the satchel, and filled the canisters of water before hefting the strap of her bag across her shoulders and testing the weight. It was bulky more than anything else, and whilst the weight of the water was probably a little more than she really wanted to carry it would decrease with consumption of the water she would need to drink to continue her journey. Acceptable, and when she slung her staff across her back as well she took comfort in the familiarity of her old life. She had carried the bag and the staff into many a ruined starship, and Rey felt confident she would manage this too.

All done, Rey decided not to waste any more time as the Jakku sun climbed higher and the sands grew hotter. She looked about her old home, somehow certain she would never set foot here again, and finally her gaze came to rest on the doll and the helmet.

 _Let the past die_.

It was time to let her old life die. 

A familiar pressure at the base of her skull warned Rey as she walked toward the wall with it's thousands of marks, each one a day she had marked for a family that would never come for her. She felt the old loneliness, but somewhere inside her chest she felt a spark of hope as she was once again connected to _him_. 

"Scavenger" Kylo acknowledged from behind her. "Where are you now?"

Rey said nothing, ignoring him. 

He watched, curious, as she raised her right arm, stretching out towards something. At first, he presumed she was using the Force, but as the fingers of her hand brushed against something he had a brief glimpse of whatever it was she was touching. He gasped in surprise - though he could see only part of it, he knew what it was from memories he had touched when their minds connected on Starkiller. The wall, the sad wall with every daily mark a record of her pain. 

:" _What are you doing on Jakku?"_

Rey pulled her hand back from the wall, and he could no longer see it. He tried to come alongside her, and she turned her head slightly to acknowledge him. Perhaps she ought to be afraid that he knew where she was, yet strangely Rey felt it was simply _right_. That it was inevitable he would find out, and that she was not afraid of confronting him again. Besides, she would be long gone by the time he got here. The connection was beginning to waiver, but her half answer mirrored words he had once spoken to her.

"Letting go of the past. It's the only way to become what I am meant to be"

*****

Rey need not have worried about where she was going. As the X-wing approached the base of Carbon Ridge, there was a _feeling_ , a flickering surge of energy she felt in her chest and belly. Just as she had on Starkiller when Kylo Ren had inadvertently prompted her to access the Force, Rey allowed the Force to flow through her and direct here to where she needed to be. She looked for a place to try and hide the X-wing, although there wasn't much. A small outcrop of low rock, that she could hide the X wing behind, sufficed but Rey knew it would hide her ship from only the most casual of observers. Fortunately, few scavengers were foolish enough to tread Carbon Ridge - between the ripper-raptors that could tear a person apart and the dead-enders chasing strangers away, nobody came here.

So it was strange that Rey was unmolested in her journey. She could feel the presence of the strange inhabitants of Carbon Ridge, but they merely observed. A pair of the enormous carrion bird swirled lazily far above, riding thermals, but ignored her. 

Why _this_ particular part of the ridge, Rey couldn't tell. There were certainly what looked like easier slopes to climb, and she could not honestly say the view in this spot looked any more promising than any other. But when she had approached the wall to determine where she need to go, this was the place that just _felt right._ So, despite the fact she was starting on an almost sheer slope rather than the gentle incline of 100 feet further to the west, Rey climbed.

In between sections of sheer wall there were interspersed more easily climbed inclines and in one section Rey scaled easily inside a crack in the wall that was almost a tunnel. Rey had smiled remembering some of the shafts she had been required to shimmy up to reach her spoils when scavenging Star Destroyers. All her youth and adolescence she had been developing the strength in her body for just this sort of climb, and Rey made far more rapid progress than she had expected. The sun had blazed overhead and she was definitely start to develop the first signs of heat exhaustion, yet something kept urging her to climb - _this way, now that way, grab there, so close, not much further_ \- and Rey stopped only for the occasional sip of water. Despite the appearance of sheer wall above her, Rey had the distinct impression she was not far from her destination.

A small ledge in the wall, enough to pull herself up and sit comfortably for a moment, seemed to be her immediate goal. She lay there groaning for a moment, thighs and upper arms aching, but Rey did not linger long. Somehow, the Force was telling her she was at her destination. Rey used the wall for support as she pull herself to her feet. The ledge was long, though not very wide, and seemed to run for perhaps fifty feet in either direction from where she now stood. The wall she was climbing made abrupt turns at each end, jutting out to mark sharp corners that boxed her in slightly.

There was a pull - _just a little that way now_. Off to the east, but Rey couldn't see anything but sheer wall. Nonetheless she shimmied sideways a few feet, back leaning against the wall for support as the ledge narrowed. Rey was focussed on keeping her feet on the narrowed ledge that she didn't even realise at first there was no support on her back anymore until she suddenly fell backwards with muffled grunt as the wall behind her seem to suddenly stop.

Rey lay on her back and let out a few huffs of surprise before gingerly rising to her feet and checking herself for any injuries. She'd had the wind knocked from her, but other than a dull ache in her left hip she seemed intact. Survey of her body done, Rey now surveyed the space she was in. The parallel faces of rock that she stood between formed a small tunnel or hallway. They overlapped by 10 or so feet. The colour and shape of the rock face, the lack of significant striations, and the overlap where an effective optical illusion, she hadn't seen it until she was right on top of it.

Beyond the parallel rock walls the space opened up into a large antechamber. There was a soft, muted bluish glow, and Rey's eyes were drawn to the source.

A figure in a robe not unlike Luke's, with long blond curls and a scar over his right eye that had a rakish air and reminded her of Ren. No, this glowing figure reminded her of _Ben_ , the man who had comforted her by the fire after her visit to the cave, who had saved her from Snoke, and had pleaded with her to join him.

The figure was leaning rather nonchalantly against a door in the stony wall, a sardonic grin on his face. 

"Welcome young Rey. I understand you need a teacher."


	4. Scars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ending it all, the crushing pain that was slowly driving him mad, seemed like the answer. Kylo carried the physical scars of a battle hardened warrior, but the mental scars were the more painful. All he wanted to do before he died was face the Scavenger again, stand in front of her and ask her why she had left him. Hadn't they promised each other, as they touched hands across an impossible distance, that they wouldn't be alone?

The Supreme Leader had been installed in his new quarters after a month. The furniture in the First Order seemed to only come in black, and Kylo had chosen the new colour scheme to offset the depressingly unrelieved black of his old quarters. Off white walls and floors, with greys and chromes. He had picked it, in part, because he thought the Scavenger might like it. And his quarters were his sanctuary, a place away from the generals and the Supreme Council, from Hux and his newly appointed steward, Mitaka.

Here Kylo wasn't required to be composed. Here he didn't have to pretend he knew what he was doing, or what needed to be done next. He could cry unwitnessed, scream in anger, or just stare at the walls. Most of his time was spent brooding, often over the Scavenger, but sometimes it was reliving the moment that was supposed to cement him in the darkness but instead had split his soul apart. The look on his father's face as he fell from the saber Kylo had impaled him on. 

Sometimes he relived that moment he had stopped fighting the darkness, when Luke had held his lightsaber over Ben and utterly betrayed his nephew. When Ben Solo realised the dark side was the only thing offering him what he needed. He had tried to embrace the dark side utterly, spent that first month of his reign recommitting himself to the dark, but deep down he was corrupted by the light. And alone, always alone. His parents had rejected him, Luke rejected him, now the Scavenger. If he had been strong enough to be who he was meant to be, then the moment he had taken his father's life he should have become the new Vader. Since Snoke's death Vader had no longer spoken to him through the melted mask, and Kylo saw that as a sign the Force had also rejected him.

Now, despite having tried to re-dedicate himself to the dark side upon his elevation, he was more than ever being torn apart. He had no steady centre, no anchor, and was driven more often than not by dark emotions and pain. He felt no satisfaction in his position as Supreme Leader, no quelling of his pain he had thought power would bring him. And more recently that pain had become almost unbearable, his thoughts becoming darker. He had begun considering ending his pain in increasingly violent ways. Only his responsibility as Supreme Leader, and a certainty that Hux would fuck it all up far worse than Kylo was, kept him going. The Supreme Council needed more time to establish itself, but soon he could leave. Take a ship, tell them he was hunting the Scavenger or seeking some important intelligence essential to the Order, and then fly straight into the nearest supernova.

Ending it all, the crushing pain that was slowly driving him mad, seemed like the answer. Kylo carried the physical scars of a battle hardened warrior, but the mental scars were the more painful. All he wanted to do before he died was face the Scavenger again, stand in front of her and ask her _why_ she had left him. Hadn't they promised each other, as they touched hands across an impossible distance, that they wouldn't be alone? Kylo did not think anything could be a greater mental torture than her rejection, but then Luke Skywalker's ghost made good on his threat to always be with him.

At first it was just the blue glow and the stern face of his uncle. Luke said nothing with words, but the judgemental disappointment was obvious in his gaze.

Kylo ignored him, going about the usual meetings, stalking around the ship with a scowl on his face that warned ship's personnel that Kylo Ren was on the verge of an explosion. He found some of the meetings quite difficult to focus on, driven mad by the additional narrowing of the eyes or compressing of Luke's lips when an order was given that Luke disagreed with. But the only person who could see Luke was Kylo, and it wouldn't do for him to scream at a ghost only he could see.

 _Then again_ , he wondered, _maybe Luke isn't here at all and I've just slipped down to full insanity._

It wasn't as if Skywalker's ghost was there _all_ the time. It would usually leave him alone to take care of the usual daily essentials - 'fresher, a meal - and seemed to find some of Kylo's activities so utterly boring that it would flicker away only to pop back an hour or two later as if checking nothing interesting was going on.

Kylo had been spending the late cycle sitting on his bed, staring at the wall silently. The long soft black pants he wore to sleep felt oddly itchy, and his bare chest goosebumped in the recycled air. He had determined during the second watch where the Scavenger was, and she certainly hadn't denied it. Now, late into the third watch, he was full of doubt at his decision not to go after her. Her attitude had left him thinking she would be gone before he could get to her, but what if she had lingered a little? If he had taken to his Interceptor immediately, perhaps he could made it there in time... but in time for _what_ exactly? 

It was the time he was meant to be sleeping, but Kylo rarely slept more than a few fitful hours a night. And even though Kylo could not consciously recall seeing much of Skywalker's ghost during those hours, it must have been observing him. Because when it finally chose to speak to him, on the third night after it's appearance, it chose to comment on Kylo's insomnia.

"Nightmares about your misdeeds keeping you up?"

Kylo closed his eyes, but just ignored the ghost.

"The first sign you'd chosen the dark side was the nightmares you had in the temple".

"I didn't chose the dark side until you forced my hand," Kylo hissed, clenching his fists tightly as a white hot rage hit him. He swallowed, and tried to recompose himself, schooling his features into indifference and trying to ignore his uncle's ghost once more.

"I failed you Ben," Skywalker admitted. "But that doesn't mean you have to stay on this dark path! There's still time Ben!"

Kylo ignored him, choosing to lay back on the bed and cover his head with one of the pillows to drown out his uncles ghost.

*****

Beyond the door in the rock wall, Rey found herself in a maze of rooms. There was a small entry room, and beyond it hallways that seemed to go off in a multitude of directions and though the Force Rey had the distinct impression that whatever facility she had found herself in it was vast, with a few levels above her and many, many more below. It was old, and dusty, but beyond that there was a strange familiarity that Rey immediately attributed to the clearly militiary design. A desk against one wall confirmed Rey's suspicion. On it lay a few document binders, with a familiar insignia stamped on them she had learned from more than a decade of scavenging wrecked starships. This was an Imperial facility.

She had never really believed the rumours about this place - whether it was an old facility that had been destroyed at the Battle of Jakku, or even that it had ever existed in the first place. Yet it couldn't be anything other than the rumoured secret Imperial Research Base.

A skittering across the floor of the hallway to her right drew her attention, and Rey pulled her staff from behind her back and took a defensive stance. She spotted a figure crossing from one room to another in the shadows beyond, and recognised the danger.

"No need", the glowing figure warned, raising one hand and laying it gently over her wrist. "They maintain and protect this place, but they will not harm you."

Rey relaxed slightly, but did not put the staff away.

"They're dead-enders. They attack strangers..."

"Ah, but we are not strangers young Rey."

She surveyed him for moment, unsure of _what_ he was, but was starting to suspect _who_ he might be. He was not entirely corporeal, being that she could see somewhat the wall behind him, yet she had felt his hand on her wrist. She wasn't sure if he was reading her mind, or if her expression told him her unspoken curiosity, but he seemed to think a belated introduction was in order.

"Obi-Wan would scold my lack of manners. You can call me Ani, and you could consider me a teacher. Of sorts."

Rey nodded absently, her mind racing at the recognition of the first name. Obi-Wan, a Jedi who had taught Luke, and whom Ben had been named for.

It also didn't miss Rey's attention that the ghost had not been entirely forthcoming with his own name. She was sure it wasn't a lie, but the resemblance between him and Ben was impossible to miss, but she let it go for now. Although it did seem to her that, apart from Ben, all of the Skywalker's seemed to have a rather loose association with the truth at times.

"Are you real?"

Ani snorted. "As real as a dead man can be. Some Jedi, after they die, can maintain their living spirit in the Force."

 _Interesting_ , Rey noted silently. Perhaps she might be having a chat with Luke at some point, and she looked forward to the opportunity to scold him again.

Ani flung one arm around in a half circle as if to point out the facility to her. "This place has many secrets still to tell, if you're interested in learning about the Force of course."

Rey nodded her agreement, slightly bemused. Luke Skywalker had never demonstrated even a sliver of this ghost's natural enthusiasm.

"It's been over 50 years since I had a student young Rey, but I must say my last one turned out remarkably well in the end."

*****

Ani had directed Rey to a turbolift, handing her over to the care of one of the dead-enders lurking in the corridors. Ani's smiling eyes followed her as she was handed over to her new protector, and he nodded at her reassuringly.

"Rest young Rey, you've had a busy day. Tomorrow we start training." And then the turbolift doors closed.

The dead-ender was dressed in the usual large ragged cloak, dark runic and pants beneath and well worn but sturdy black boots. Pieces of old Imperial Stormtrooper armour clung to the garment beneath the cloak. Rey had never seen a dead-ender so close before, but the hooded cloak meant she did not see much more detail than she had at previous distances. The beard was greying, but what she could see was neatly trimmed and not very long. His skin was quite pale, almost grey after decades of artificial light, but she had the impression his original skin tone might have been olive. He silently lead her down a dozen levels to what turned out to be a residential level. 

Rey tried to talk to the dead-ender, but he remained silent. His silence reminded her rather uncomfortably of the First Order troopers who had clapped her in binders after she arrived on the Supremacy, although she sensed no ill intent from this one. The dead-ender directed her gently with no more than a gently cupped palm to the back of her elbow, and she followed him down a long corridor passing several open doorways though which Rey could see various bunk rooms. Some were clearly occupied, probably by the dead-enders, and others were abandoned, The door to which Rey was taken, however, was the first in a series of closed doors whose doorways looked wider and more ornate, with more substantial panels clearly designed to be locked against general admittance. Rey baulked for a moment, thinking herself about to be placed in a cell, but the dead-ender removed his armoured glove and entered a series of commands before pointing to the panel and nodding at Rey. When she failed to immediately understand his intent, the dead-ender gently took her right wrist and pushed her hand towards the panel, spreading the fingers of his other hand palm down to demonstrate.

 _Of_ _course_ , Rey realised. She had seen these panels before on downed Starships, and realised this was for _her_ to be able to control access rather than to lock her in. 

Her bioscan details set, the door slid sideways to allow access, and Rey took in a deep breath. These were clearly officer's quarters, and high ranking at that. The small receiving room Rey entered was bigger than her hut on Ahch-To, bigger than the bunkroom she had shared with Rose on Dankayo and definitely bigger than her AT-AT. The room was sparsely furnished with only a couple of couches and a few side tables, but the furnishings looked quite comfortable and she could see there was another room and beyond that a hall which doubtless led to further rooms. The walls were panelled in plastisteel, pale grey instead of the usual black, and backlit in the style she had seen on Starkiller although there was overhead panelled lighting as well. The room was floored in the familiar metal, this time in black, but there were soft carpets laid under the couches and the overall appearance was strangely welcoming.

Her guardian remained in the corridor outside, not following in to the room but she could tell he was following her with his eyes as she explored the room. Rey swung her staff from her back to rest it against the wall beside the doorway, then dropped her satchel on to the first couch. She then directed her gaze back to the dead-ender.

"Can you tell me your name?"

He shook his head and said nothing, but after a moment drew back the edge of his cloak to show a small silvery badge and tapped at it twice, then pointed to her. A question?

 _My name_ , Rey realised. "I'm Rey."

He tapped at the badge again. Rey peered at the badge, and clearly saw the Aurebesh letters and numbers.

"GRC-084. That's your name?"

The dead-ender nodded, and Rey felt a pang of loss thinking of Finn. He too had only been known by a series of letters and numbers until just before she had met him. And how sad, that this man who had likely been here much longer than Rey herself had even been alive, might have never had a name. Maintaining and protecting a facility dedicated to a dead empire that saw its last battle a decade before her birth.

GRC-084, clearly considering the conversation at an end, raised two fingers to his temple in a small salute then stepped out of the doorway. The door slid closed behind him, and Rey debated just flopping on to the couch next to her satchel. She was tired from her climb up the Ridge, but she was dirty, sweaty, and in need of a 'fresher before she could sleep.

Beyond the receiving room the space opened up with one side set out as a small dining area with a black glass table and four highbacked chairs, and a small sitting area with another couch, a comfortable looking armchair, and a bookshelf with a few texts. The opposite side of the space contained a modest kitchen area, including a conservator that Rey knew was used for keeping perishable foods. Not that a hidden base that received no deliveries had any need for perishables. None of the appliances were otherwise familiar to her, but she supposed most officers would have eaten in a mess or had meals delivered and these sort of quarters might have been for the more high ranking or the more paranoid. Although those two descriptors probably went hand in hand.

Thankfully, she noted a small sink on the island bench with a spout for water to refill her canteens. If only she could find some way of turning it on. She tried tapping the spout, waving her hand beneath it, thumping the countertop in frustration. Tech rarely defeated her, and Rey was sure the answer was obvious, she was just too tired. Eventually, Rey spied a small datapad set into the wall near the conservator, and she decided to investigate. Touching the datapad brought instant activity, with one of the wall panels swinging forward and sideways opening in to a small closet. A second later a protocol droid stepped out. It was not dissimilar to C-3PO in terms of size although was clearly of a more advanced design with more articulations designed to mimic a more humanoid range of movements. 

"I am LD-2ZY, Imperial protocol droid. I am at your service... Mistress?"

 _Similar sing song voice_ , Rey noted, _another 3PO_. "Rey."

"Very well Mistress Rey. How may I be of assistance?"

"Just Rey. I'm going to call you LD if that's okay?"

"Inaccurate, but acceptable."

Rey snorted in laughter, then quickly charmed the droid into showing her how the tap worked. There was apparently a small recessed pad under the counter at the sink level, and Rey could slide it side to side for temperature, and back and forth for volume. A quick double tap would turn it on or off. The droid then explained it would be it's role to undertake such tasks as cleaning, cooking, and generally assisting Rey with any tasks she required of it. To illustrate it's point, LD showed her through the remainder of her quarters. The remaining rooms consisted of a small library, a modest room devoid of any furnishings but with large cushions on the floor, and a bedroom with attached robe the size of another room as well as the bathroom. Apart from the hallway and bathroom the rooms were all carpeted in a soft grey, and the wall panels a paler grey that became white in the bedroom and bathroom. A bathroom, she was excited to her, that had actual running water. A number of walls throughout the residence had floor to ceiling expanses of what looked like frosted glass instead of the plastisteel panels. When Rey enquired, LD informed her these were viewscreen panels, and could simulate a number of different environments since there were no windows in the base. 

These were the most luxurious rooms Rey had ever been in, and she swallowed with difficulty thinking they were all hers. She expected to find the robe empty, but to her surprised it was hung with a variety of garments in shades of grey and white that looked as if they would fit her, and LD opened a number of drawers to show her they were filled with undergarments, sleepwear, and various other small items. A large dresser was laid out with a few items across its surface - a hairbrush, a comb, a few ties and some clips, all very feminine in design. Rey picked up the hairbrush, examining its silvery surface and the engraved pattern on the back of it. She had the uncomfortable feeling these quarters had been prepared for her well in advance, and asked LD-2ZY when they had been organised for her.

"Final preparations did not commence until about 3 standard months ago after the massacre of Tuanul." 

_Oh_. She stopped fidgeting with the hairbrush. Poe had told her about Tuanal. Kylo had captured him there, and it had been the event that drove Finn to leave the First Order. If she calculated correctly, it was only a day or two before Rey herself had left Jakku. Assuming it had always been intended for her, they had prepared this apartment even though she left the planet - had they somehow known she was coming back? She had assumed she had gone against the designs of the Force when she had turned down Kylo's offer to stand with him, and it had been a constant regret and second guessing since. But if she was meant to come here, had she actually been following her destiny?

*****

Kylo spent the next morning ignoring most of his responsibilities. He did attend the morning briefing with his Supreme Council, but mostly sat in his chair at the head of the table and ignored them. Skywalker's ghost continued to give disapproving glares, but Kylo ignored him too. 

Hux cleared his throat a few times, and then spoke in his most supercilious tone. "Are we boring you Supreme Leader".

Kylo said nothing, mere continuing to look past the table to the window beyond, to the planet they were orbiting. _Coruscant_ , Kylo remembered, _the Council wants me to consider making it a Capital._ Hux cleared his throat again, and Kylo slid his eyes toward the man who had the gall to look _offended_. Kylo merely twitched the fingers on his open left hand, and Hux was suddenly coughing genuinely. Slowly, Kylo curled the fingers to form a loose fist, and raised his hand. Hux slowly rose about a foot in the air, ankles jerking helplessly as his face began turning red and his breathing more laboured.

"Enough!" Skywalker roared, although only Kylo could hear him. 

Kylo smiled darkly at Hux, ignoring Skywalker for a moment, before opening his fist and splaying his palm again. Hux dropped to the ground in a heap, folding over himself and wheezing.

"This meeting is adjourned," Kylo informed the room, before stalking off towards the training room.

Ships personnel made themselves scarce as he made his way through the ship. Clearly word had been passed on that the Supreme Leader was in a _mood_. The sort of mood that, after living on and off with Kylo Ren aboard for more than 5 years, the staff had come to associate with destruction of property and potentially of _people_. 

Kylo tore off his cloak and gloves as he entered the training room, throwing them to the floor near the door. But Kylo wasn't angry. Tired, definitely. Frustrated? - maybe. The idea of being Supreme Leader wasn't anything like the reality. He had come to seek power because that was what he had been taught was his birthright, his role in the galaxy and his destiny in the Force. And creating order from chaos, rule of law and justice - these things would ultimately benefit the galaxy would they not?

But the reality was that he found power empty and unfulfilling. It was nothing that Snoke had promised him it would be, and it was no solace for his loneliness. If _she_ had joined him when he asked, perhaps things would have been different.

Perhaps it was just a whim of the force, or perhaps it was simply that he was thinking of her (and maybe she was thinking of him at the exact same time?), but a familiar sensation began to prick across the base of his skull.

15 years in the Jakku desert had taught Rey the value of water, and the need to conserve it. LD-2ZY had told her the water was essentially limitless here - there was an effective waste recycling system and access to a deep aquifer should any additional water be required. But Rey was nonetheless cognisant she was in the middle of the desert, and tried to be efficient about her ablutions. Still, she took her time to wash and condition her hair with the supplied products, reading the labels regarding their proper use first. And a minute to just _stand_ under the water, enjoying the pulsing sensation as it fell on her tired skin, and to simply relax. She was still reflecting on how she had left Kylo on the Supremacy, so Rey supposed she only had herself to blame for thinking about him in the first instance as she felt that throb at the base of her skull.

"I guess you've already run again, since Jakku has a scarcity of water." His low growl came from behind her, and she hoped she was hidden by the frosted glass panel and the steam

 _Kriff_. She could tell from his thoughts bleeding through that he _had_ seen her, wanted to give her the courtesy of averting his gaze, something was locking his eyes to her.

"Who did _that_ to you Scavenger?" He was _furious,_ and Rey knew he was looking at the scars. 

Rey knew her back was covered in them, mostly marks of slavers whips when she had been too slow or too stubborn, too mouthy. Mostly as a small child, before she had been able to gain a measure of freedom in the Badlands although still dependent on Plutt to buy her scraps. There was one jagged scar she knew was the result of a fall, and an old burn on her left hip that she had no memory of acquiring. There was also the silvery barcode tattooed above her right shoulder blade, the mark of her enslavement, that Plutt had told her declared her his property.

"Please, turn around."

Once she could sense Kylo had turned away, she quickly hit the control panel to turn off the water. She could sense his back remained turned, his gaze at his feet, probably to the floor of whatever room he currently occupied. Moving quickly, Rey grabbed one of the large fluffy towels LD had left on the counter for her, quickly wrapping it around her body to make sure she was sufficiently covered. She left her hair dripping, not wanting to risk letting go of the towel despite tightly tucking it in at her side.

 _Okay, turn around if you must_. And he must have heard the thought, because he was facing her again as she stood in front of the mirror bench.

She knew what he would ask before he even voiced the thought, turning before he even finished asking.

_Show me. Show me what they did to you._

Rey ducked her head in shame as she allowed him to see those marks that the towel would not hide. She shivered as his fingers _touched_ her skin, and she noted he wasn't wearing his gloves again. She looked up at the mirror in front of her, but she saw only herself despite what she could see in her own eyes and feel on her own skin. He skimmed his fingers along one particularly deep scar across her left shoulder that Rey still sometimes felt when she stretched. He moved to the silvery tattoo, and his fingers again traced an old story. There was an intimacy to his touch, but it was overlaid by his barely contained fury and she _heard_ the painful swallow before he spoke again.

"Nobody gets to own you Rey," Kylo's voice was soft, and gentle. "The only people who should be ashamed are the ones who did this to you."

It broke Rey, a trail of hot tears escaping down her cheeks. It was not so much the half forgotten memory of the injuries, nor that someone was showing her they care, but that she realised it was the first time he had used her name since they had parted above Crait. But the scars were old, and Rey had come to terms with that part of her childhood at least.

"Tell me who did it. I will make them answer for it."

She shook her head. "It was a long time ago."

She didn't want him chasing vengeance for something she barely remembered. The long ago injuries inflicted on a small child were not the source of her current pain, one that she considered was self inflicted. Rey supposed he sensed some of what she was thinking, because he sighed and she felt his anger falling away a little to be replaced by a regret similar to her own.

He left his right hand resting on her shoulder above the tattoo. His large fingers gently gripped as he squeezed in a comforting gesture that lasted a brief moment before he gently turned her too look at her face. Their connection was becoming less distinct, and she could hardly feel the touch of his fingers on her bare shoulder.

"We will see each other again," Rey promised him.

He said nothing, just kept his eyes on hers. They had that same large dark look, the pain that she had seen on the Supremacy when he asked her to join him, and again as she closed the ramp of the Falcon on him. The eyes of Ben Solo, pleading with her not to turn away from him. She reached out her hand toward his face, and he closed eyes as she touched his face. The last thing he felt as the bond closed again was her fingers tracing downward along the scar from his brow to jaw.

Kylo felt the damned presence before he opened his eyes to see Skywalker watching him.

The ghost of his uncle was blessedly silent, but the eyes were speculative. He continued to watch as Kylo unlaced his boots, setting them on a low bench and picking up his gloves and cloak to join them. Kylo strode to the middle of the padded sparring space, observing the various weapons hung on the wall. Sparring sticks, an axe (blunt of course for training), maces and swords... his eyes flitted over them until they landed on something that made him smile and he rubbed at his scar absently as he thought of Rey. 

The moment they had just shared, so much like the one they shared before she came to him, was not quite enough to bring him the peace he needed to chose living. But he thought it might be enough to keep going until he could leave the galaxy a better place than Snoke made it.

He called the staff to him using the force, and then activated one of the training droids.


	5. If I knock on your door, will you open it for me?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An odd sense of urgency had manifested itself over the previous few days. If someone had asked her, she would not have been able to define what exactly she was worried about. All she knew was that they needed each other, and more specifically Ben needed her. Frustrated, she tentatively pushed against the invisible barrier, as if knocking on a door and asking for permission to come in. She breathed a sigh of relief when he let her in. It was unlike their previous moments, only a bridging of their minds, but it was enough.
> 
> *****  
> He had instantly regretted pushing her, making her feel the same pain he was suffering. She had been right to reject him, he was not worthy of her. Not worthy of anything, really... too much of a monster for the light, unable to commit to the dark.
> 
> And now that his Uncle's ghost had decided to take up permanent residence at Kylo's side, he wondered if he had exchanged those voices in his head for full blown hallucinations.

She had always been an early riser, unless unwell, but she had fallen to the temptation that was a combination of artificial lighting and the largest bed she had ever had to call her own. LD-2ZY, however, had a schedule of activities and was dedicated to ensuring it's mistress would be where she was supposed to be when she was supposed to be there.

LD-2ZY laid out clothes and some accessories for her across the bed, instructing it's mistress that she had only an hour for breakfast and preparations before she would be collected by one of her guardians to attend training. 

"I guess you'd better direct me to the mess hall then."

" _The Mess Hall?_ " the droid had taken on an offended tone that was oh so reminiscent of C-3PO, " _whatever for_?"

"Breakfast? Humans need regular fuel LD."

The droid shook it's head. "All your meals are prepared here, by me, unless otherwise specified Mistress. I am a _full service_ protocol droid"

LD waddled out of the bedroom to attend to the preparation, and a suitably chastised Rey pulled herself out of bed. LD had selected a pair of black compression tights, long sleeved fitted undershirt that flowed to her upper thighs, and a sleeveless black leather overshirt that flowed to the same length and had hooks for a belt. The belt itself was clearly designed to have weapons clipped to it, but other than her staff Rey only had the broken saber.

LD-2ZY was an excellent cook. The meal she had been served the night before was a simple but tasty soup with real bread, not the polystarch rolls she was used to, and the taste and texture was far superior. She wondered where the ingredients came from, since the battle of Jakku was ten years before her birth, and the base had certainly not had any shipments since that time. LD, however, was a rather chatty droid once Rey had agreed it could cook for her and was more than happy to prattle on about the base once asked.

"The base has a number of hydroponic bays. In addition, after the Battle of Jakku the majority of the base personnel abandonded the facility. Non perishables and long term storage intended to provide a five year supply will now last almost ten times as long, provided no major interruptions to power supply."

The droid served her some sort of warm flat thing Rey had watched it cook over the burners that had been hidden in the counter top. There was fruit mixed in to the batter, and Rey found it to be delicious. Half way through her breakfast Rey recognised what the sweet aroma reminded her of. 

They had been on Dankayo only a few days, and one of the Resistance survivors was being celebrated - a birthday. Poe asked her why she looked so sad, and she confessed she had never celebrated a birthday. She didn't even know when it was, or exactly how old she was. He had brought her a slice of cake from the impromptu party, and kissed her cheek. _A pretty girl should always be celebrated,_ he had told her.

She suddenly felt nauseous, and the breakfast no longer appealing.

*****

The benefit of being a ghost, Rey supposed, was that there was no such thing as a locked door. 

Ani had simply appeared in her kitchen as LD-2ZY was passing over her second cup of caf, and Rey almost dropped it in astonishment.

"Kriff! Where did you come from?!"

LD cocked it's head quizzically at her as she settled the cup with a rattle on the counter.

"Who are you talking to Mistress?"

"Err..., " Rey was nonplussed. Clearly LD couldn't see Ani.

"It can't see or hear me," Ani nodded in the direction of the droid. "Pity, some of my best friends were droids. Grab your things and walk with me to the training hall."

Rey did as she had been asked, grabbing her satchel and her staff on the way out of the apartment. 

They walked down the long hallway towards the turbolift in comfortable silence. As the door slid open, Rey noted GRC-084 was waiting for them. He nodded to Ani, then pointed to Rey's bag, and she allowed him to take carry it for her. When he pointed at her staff however, Rey shook her head slightly.

"Before we begin young Rey, I think we need to have a chat about why you're here and who we all are."

"I'm just Rey," she told him, and thinking about what Ben had said to her on the Supremacy, she elaborated a little further. "I come from nothing. I am nothing"

Ani raised one eyebrow. "I doubt that's true."

"Ben... Kylo Ren saw it. He is many things, but a liar isn't one of them."

Ani sighed, and patted her on the shoulder comfortingly. Master Luke had never tried to make her feel better about anything. But he chose not to argue the matter further with her.

"You know who I am, don't you Rey?"

She nodded. "I had a dream, more like a vision I think... I was climbing the ridge, and when I reached the top Darth Vader was waiting for me."

If anything about this whole farce was a surprise, it was that something in a vision had been so very literal in it's interpretation. 

"Quite a pair then, aren't we?. A nobody from the Jakku desert being taught the Jedi arts by a ghost who used to be Lord Vader?"

Rey gave him a small smile. "I'll trust you aren't leading me straight to the dark side then, Master Skywalker."

Anakin chuckled, but Rey sighed.

"Why though? Why not Master Luke, who I at least met? I've never known you before I came here."

"The Force works in mysterious ways," Anakin replied, injecting as much pompousness and he could and giving her a sardonic grin.

When the turbolift doors opened Rey noted they were on level 12. As the trio stepped out into the hallway, Rey's curiosity lead her to further question her new Master.

"So the droids can't see you, but people can?"

"Those that can't feel the Force usually can't see a ghost," he laughed by means of explanation

 _Right_ , she thought, _makes sense I guess._ And then Rey had a strange thought that she immediately knew must be true to some extent. They had drifted over the left side of the corridor to allow a half dozen dead-enders to pass. Anakin nodded at them, and they each gave the same two fingered salute to the temple GRC-084 had given Rey the night before. _They had seen Master Skywalker._

"All of them," Rey gasped, pointing back to the dead-enders they had passed, then ahead to small group standing at attention and clearly looking at Rey and Ani. "They're _all_ Force sensitive? Is that why they're...."

"There was an incident here, many years ago. One of the research projects got out of control, and a huge wave of energy passed through the base."

"And everyone here became Force sensitive because of it?"

"Oh no," Anakin said darkly, "most of the personnel on base _died_. Only the GRC survived."

"The GRC? They're the dead-enders?" Rey's voiced cracked slightly. " _What is this place?_ "

Anakin paused for a moment, as if trying to decided how much to tell her

"Imperial Research Facility."

"I thought it was destroyed in the Battle of Jakku."

Ani shook his head. "No, that was the Jakku Observatory. This place was far more secret than the Observatory, and served a far different purpose. In fact the destruction of the Observatory allowed this place to be forgotten to some extent."

Rey pursed her lips and thought for a moment. 

"I don't understand though. If the Empire was finished why did the researchers stay? When did the accident happen and who has been looking after them?

""As far as I can tell, a lot of the staff did abandon their work after the battle of Jakku. But some of the research here was rather specialised and a number of the scientists stayed to see it to fruition. As for the GRC, they were a rather specific military division with the sole purpose of protecting a particular research project. After the incident, the GRC were the only survivors. Nobody knows what happened to other personnel - there were no bodies."

Anakin rubbed the scar over his right eye.

"That reminds me, you really need to stay away from there. Floors 30 through to 33 are off limits, unstable and dangerous."

"But.." Rey began, before Ani raised one finger to cut her off.

"I mean it young Padawan. You don't want to go in there."

Ani directed her past the assemble dead-enders - _I should call them GRC,_ Rey reminded herself - and in to a large room clearly broken up into specific areas for different activities. The training hall.

Once the air had been cleared, the first morning was spent with Rey sparring against the two dead-enders, two against one using staffs. Anakin observed her form, mostly silent as he appraised her level of skill, although occasionally pointing out something she needed to correct or just as frequently praising a particular movement. After about an hour they broke for water and a snack, and then Anakin sat down with her to go through some of the Jedi texts. She was dismissed back to her quarters for lunch, Anakin informing her GRC-084 had been assigned to bring her X wing on to the base through a hidden hangar. It was a relief to Rey to know that her ship would be safe from other scavengers, and that she would have a means to leave at some point should she choose.

The afternoon was spent in meditation followed by another sparring session, again with her staff but this time against the droid. At the end of the day she was returned to her quarters, to shower away the aches and tight muscles of training, LD ensuring she had eaten something before she tumbled in to bed exhausted.

The next two weeks were spent in a similar pattern, each day much like the first. She was so tired at the end of each day that she put aside her vague unease at the lack of any Force connection with Ben, writing it off as merely being tired. Still, she resolved to try meditating as Master Skywalker had been instructing, to try and actively find his signature. Rey wasn't sure if that meant she could connect with him, but she hoped she could at least reassure herself that he was okay.

Rey had an unexpected opportunity early in her third week on the base. She had been learning to use the Force to help her jump and twist around opponents, and for a moment became confused and misjudged the downward strike of her staff. Instead of knocking the weapon out of the droid's metal hand as intended, she had struck higher up where it's arm joined the body, and torn off the metal limb entirely.

"Enough", Master Anakin called, "the droid needs repairing before you can continue."

"Sorry Master, I lost my focus and misjudged."

Anakin smiled at her fondly. "You're tired young one. Why don't you finish early. Bring the saber tomorrow, I want to look further at the _Rammaghon_ and the _Chronicles."_

Rey had not had the opportunity to use the meditation room in her quarters yet, but after briefly greeting LD-2ZY she went straight to the carpeted room and sat down on one of the large cushions. Anakin had been surprised at her natural ability to bring herself to a meditative state, but despite being able to achieve the correct frame of mind Rey was struggling to find _Ben_ himself. It was as if he was there, but behind a barrier, and she was not entirely sure if pushing through it would be acceptable etiquette or _rude_. But an odd sense of urgency had manifested itself over the previous few days. If someone had asked her, she would not have been able to define what exactly she was worried about. All she knew was that they needed each other, more specifically _Ben needed her_. Frustrated, she tentatively pushed against the invisible barrier, as if knocking on a door and asking for permission to come in. She breathed a sigh of relief when he let her in. It was unlike their previous moments, only a bridging of their minds, but it was enough.

_Rey?_

She smiled happily. **_Ben._**

_How are you doing that? Neither of us has ever consciously been able to reach the other._

Rey thought for a moment, and realised his statement wasn't entirely true.

**_There's been a few times when I thought about you, or needed you, and the Force made it happen. Isn't this just a natural progression of that?_ **

Rey could sense a sudden tangle of emotions from the other side of their connection.

 _You.. need me?_ Confusion. _You think about me?_ Hope.

Of course she thought about him. Needed to talk to him sometimes. Despite their seemingly opposite nature, each understood the loneliness and pain of the other. If only he had turned away from the First Order she would have joined him. She couldn't follow him down the dark path, a journey that could lead only to the suffering of others. Neither did she feel her place was necessarily with the Resistance.

_**We understand each other... even though you hate me now I know that's still true. And I haven't seen you for a while.** _

He mentally sighed, and she had the impression he was so very tired. Neither said anything for a long while, each just feeling the presence of the other. 

But her underlying worry about him need to be soothed.

 **_Ben, are you...._ ** _**alright?** _

_No Rey. I'm not alright. I wasn't supposed to do this alone. You were supposed to be with me._

Rey felt the sudden sharp spike of his pain as he pushed back against the connection, shutting her out. She sat for moment, not daring to try again, not noticing the tears she had shed when his pain became her own for a moment.

Rey decided not to discuss her disastrous attempt to talk to Ben, despite the recognition that of all her mentors so far Anakin would probably have been the most understanding and supportive regarding the topic of the Supreme Leader. It wasn't that she didn't think he might have useful advice, rather her most recent hurt wasn't something she was ready to pick through yet.

*****

Had Rey really bridged their connection again, and told him she needed him? Or was it a mad fantasy, a symptom of a mental illness well deserved after all he had done?

His entire life he had been listening to voices in is head, urging him to acts of unspeakable evil in his destiny to rule the galaxy through the dark side of the Force. And then, with the death of Snoke, the voices were suddenly silent. Kylo Ren wasn't sure if that was a blessing or a curse. The ghost of Darth Vader and the voice of Snoke himself had been his guides, and without their direction he was floundering. 

The voices were gone, but he still had nightmares. The nightmares were different to the ones he used to suffer when Snoke was inside his mind. But somehow the new ones were worse. 

_He's on the bridge on Starkiller, killing Han Solo again. Sometimes his father reaches out to cup his cheek, and tells Ben he loves him as he falls backward from the blade to the depths below. Sometimes Han curses Ben and tells him his mother will never forgive him. The worst though, is when the body on the end of his fiery blade suddenly transforms into Rey. She looks up at him from the blade and tells him, "that's the moment you can never take back. Because of that one act, we can never be together." And then he sobs, because he threw away something so important without even knowing it's value first._

And now that his Uncle's ghost had decided to take up permanent residence at Kylo's side, he wondered if he had exchanged voices in his head for full blown hallucinations.

Luke had watched him disapprovingly throughout a Council meeting, and it hardly seemed fair to Kylo that Luke could look at him so pityingly after he had just declared the First Order would be outlawing slavery with harsh penalties for any system under their control found violating the new law. It might have had something to do with Kylo's answer to Hux's complaints about losing the Hutt's support being a more savage than usual Force choking that included throwing the ginger haired bastard against the nearest console as well, but still his uncle should have been pleased about the declaration against slavery.

Instead, the moment they were alone in the training room after the meeting, Luke's ghost had launched into a tirade about a single decent measure not undoing the years of misdeeds Kylo had engaged in. It didn't matter that almost all of these had been under the tight leashed demands of Snoke, or that since taking the throne Kylo had limited his so called "murdering and torture" to criminals that clearly deserved it. Why, he hadn't even tried to chase down his mother's silly little band of outlaws either!

He cut Luke off mid tirade.

"Well, at least I'll be leaving the galaxy a little better off than Snoke left it, and a lot better off than you or my mother."

Kylo thought the fish like gaping was particularly ridiculous on a ghost.

"What do you mean Ben?"

Kylo just shrugged as he lay back on the padded floor of the sparring space, stretching his arms then bending his elbows to place his hands behind his head.

"Just that I don't intend to keep doing this much longer. Once these idiots have a course to steer and I find someone acceptable to lead them, I think I deserve some freedom from all this pain."

Skywalker's eyes narrowed. "Now listen here Ben, you can do that now if you just go back to your mother."

"I can never go back to her," Kylo replied with an air of finality.

He closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep, and the ghost was mercifully silent.

The scheduled sleeping time, third shift, had come to be spent listening to the ghost. Usually how Ben could still turn back to the light, return to his family.

"I don't have any family," Kylo reminded Luke. "You all abandoned and rejected to me."

"What about Rey," Skywalker changed direction. "You have a connection to her."

Kylo made an effort to be emotionless. "She rejected me too. There's nobody."

"Come on kid, there's _always_ another way."

"There really isn't. And don't you think I deserve to die anyway?"

He meant every word, but Kylo also knew he had to ensure he could leave the galaxy in safe hands first. And the way things were currently travelling, that might take months.

*****

Rey kept reaching out, trying to bridge their minds again. Just like before, the barrier between them was like a closed door. She kept knocking on it, in the end virtually hammering on it and demanding he open it to her. She could feel his surprise that she was trying, and it seemed as though there was a part of him that _wanted_ to answer, but for some reason he was refusing her. She tried every evening, and sometimes in the morning too, sometimes just knocking politely, sometimes screaming at him to let her in.

 _Please Ben. Please. I know there's something wrong. It hurts me too_.

But he kept her out, even though she knew he wanted to say yes.

After a month, Rey had accepted partial defeat. She didn't want to give up, but so far it had been a futile exercise and Rey had come to realise that if the Force wanted them together again it would happen in it's own time and in it's own way. All Rey could do was leave the door open for him to find her, to hope that they would be able to see and touch each other across the strange connection they sometimes shared. Perhaps they might even stand on the same ground again, hopefully not with weapons drawn against each other.


	6. The Madness of Kylo Ren

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Ben plans to do something terrible."  
> "Blow up a planet type terrible, or just kidnap a few of your friends terrible? Ahh.. memories.."  
> "Be serious." Rey threw a cushion at Anakin, which would have passed straight through him if he hadn't caught it. "No, the only person he's trying to hurt is himself."  
> Anakin sat down on the armrest of one of the couches, and dropped the cushion he had been holding.  
> "Can't say the same thing didn't occur to me a few times after I turned to the dark side. Do you know how and when?"  
> *****  
> This fucker is toying with me, Poe thought. I shoot, he just freezes the bolt, or hits it back at me with his blade.  
> "Go ahead," Kylo repeated softly, almost as if he was compelling him. "You'll be the hero of the resistance."  
> Poe frowned, but still resisted drawing his weapon. The longer he could draw this out, the more time his squad had to get away. Kylo's free hand had balled up in a fist and Poe could see the visible increasing tension in the muscles of Kylo's neck.  
> "FIRE AT ME," the dark cloaked Ren suddenly screamed at him. "Take your shot Dameron! Make the General proud, tell her it was you who cut down the Mighty Kylo Ren."

She still tried to reach him every few days, but it was no longer the demanding, even begging, attempts. Instead, she would politely ask and after a few minutes of being ignored quietly leave.

From time to time she would send a thought, or a feeling, along a connection she visualised as an infinite string connecting the two of them. Maybe he heard her, maybe not - but she needed to try.

_I miss you._

_I found a new teacher. If only I could be sure you were listening, I'd really like to tell you about it._

_This is such a strange place. I think you'd find it interesting._

_I'm sorry._

_I'm worried about you. Can't you just talk to me for a minute?_

But there was nothing back.

That part of her awareness that belonged to Ben was still there, but it was a dull throb that over the next few months became softer until it was almost absent. Rey was frightened by what that meant, yet she was sure that if anything untoward happened to him she would have somehow known it.

She wanted to share with him how her training was going. How she had learned from the _Chronicles of Brus-bu_ the healing meditation required to repair the crystal they had torn in two. Her ideas on how that meditation might be further explored for something more. And how repairing the saber had given her insight into building her own weapon, when the time came and she was ready to seek out her own Kyber crystal.

Or to tell him who her Master was, that Vader had _never_ been the voice in his head. The twisted melted mask of the dark Sith Lord had been nothing more than another means by which Snoke had trapped Ben. She had confronted her Master and asked why he had never gone to Ben, but it seemed either Snoke or the Force itself had blocked his attempts.

*****

After more than half a standard year on the base, Anakin had begun to speak of off world training exercises and missions to further her skill set. They had recently taken to using an old conference room for Rey to eat the midday meal LD-2ZY sent up with one of the GRC each day. As Rey ate Anakin had her bringing up the old view screen and going though some of the planets Rey had never seen but which Anakin felt it was important she learn about. Some of these worlds she would need to see for herself, to start collecting the parts for her own lightsaber. Although the repaired saber would serve her well, the texts and Anakin himself had made it clear that a saber would serve her best if the stone within it was attuned to her.

A Jedi needed more than just theory and practice in a controlled environment, the skills she was learning were best honed with real world experience so that they became instinctive. Or so Anakin liked to tell her. And it wouldn't hurt for her to determine the status of the galaxy under the First Order.

"Need I remind you, Master, I don't think I'm going to be a _Jedi_. I don't hold to some of their principles."

Anakin just ruffled her hair, which she had taken to wearing in the same half up half down she had worn on the Supremacy. It reminded her of Ben, just as she had worn the buns thinking her parents would recognise her.

"A common theme amongst my Padawan's then. Just don't fall."

Rey rolled her eyes. "No intention."

She flicked across the map as she chewed on a spoonful of the grain and vegetable salad LD had prepared for her, until Anakin directed her to set the map to a nearby system.

"Here's where I think you should go next. Short distance away, trading posts where you might pick up a few of the things you need, and maybe some information too."

*****

LD-2ZY had tried it's utmost to remind Rey she needed to pack for her trip. But packing was a foreign concept to Rey. As a scavenger she'd never had enough clothes to have to think about choosing what to take or what to leave behind. Having separate items for sleeping, training, and general wear were novelties and the sheer number of various garments meant Rey had been too dumbstruck to choose her own clothes in the beginning. And the different types of undergarments? 

Heck, even owning more than a single pair of boots was a heady experience.

In the end though, Rey found there were simply too many choices and no idea what to prepare for, so she had admitted defeat and resorted to begging LD to help her. Which was how Rey came to find herself sitting sprawled on the floor of her robe, folding underclothes in the _proper manner_ LD had been careful to describe, whilst the droid was searching for particular garments on the hangers. It was certainly not as embarrassing as being caught in the shower, but Rey could certainly think of less intimate items she could have been folding when she felt the familiar tug that announced they were finally, after so many months, connecting again.

Ben had looked better. The evidence of late nights was all too obvious in the bags beneath his eyes, and though he was obviously still an intimidating looking figure, his face was thinner and Rey had the distinct impression he had not been eating well. His tunic seemed a little loose, and although clean it was rumpled as if he had slept in it.

"Ben...."

His eyes were haunted as he turned to look at her, and his lips silently worked in the same way they had in the throne room. Ben took a step towards her before stumbling and falling to his knees in front of her, head almost in her lap, and Rey shrieked in surprise.

"Rey.... Rey." He was sobbing, and she lay one hand on the nape of his neck before looking over to LD, who had come out of the clothing racks upon hearing Rey shriek.

"LD, could you leave me alone for a while? I'll call you when I'm finished."

"Most irregular," the droid responded, "however I will do as you wish."

Ben seemed oblivious to the conversation, just wrapping his arms around her waist as he knelt with his head turned to the side in her lap, constantly muttering her name. His scarred cheek was uppermost, and as she stroked his hair with one hand she traced the fingers of the other along the scar. He kept his eyes closed, tears continuing to fall, and Rey continued working her fingers until LD had finally left the bedroom.

"What's happened Ben? Tell me so I can help you."

He sniffled and sighed. "This isn't real. I'm just so tired. I'm dreaming."

Her fingers stropped moving, and Rey bent forward to kiss his temple. "You're awake Ben, I promise you. Just open your eyes."

Rey placed her fingers under the left side of his jaw and applied some pressure to try and lift his head. Ben opened his eyes and raised his head, then let go of his grip around her waist. He sank back to a half sitting, half kneeling position.

"Rey?"

She smiled sadly. "It's been a while. I've been worried about you."

He closed his eyes again for a moment. "This, this isn't _real_."

Rey reached out and laid a hand on each side of his jaw, her thumbs gently stroking them, and Ben opened his again eyes to look at her. She recognised the same pleading look she had seen before, but there was something else there too. Something that had probably been there every other time he'd looked at her this way, but always hidden far better than he could in his current exhausted state. It was a hungry look, and something deep inside of Rey recognised it and responded accordingly

Without conscious intent, Rey leaned forward and pressed her lips to his. It was chaste at first, but after a moment of surprise Ben parted his lips slightly and Rey did the same. The arms that had pulled away from Rey were suddenly around her, and somehow he had pulled her towards him to sit sideways in his lap. He trapped her lower lip gently between his teeth as he finally pulled away to let them both gasp for air.

"Now I know it isn't real," Ben said shakily, trembling as he held her.

He pushed her away and rose to his feet, his hands balled in to fists.

"I just want it to stop!" He screamed and hook his fists. "I need to be free of this pain! It doesn't stop until I die, does it?"

Rey sat half crumpled on the floor, crying, but the tears were for his pain not herself. He ran his hands through his hair, almost yanking on handfulls as he did so. Rey could feel the self-hatred, the loathing, coupled with despair and loneliness. Rey had a sudden unintentional glimpse into his mind. She stiffened as she realised his intent, and she jumped to her feet to grab at his hand and pull him around to face her.

"No! Ben please. _Please._ You're scaring me."

Ben stilled for a moment. "It's the only way."

"Tell me where you are Ben. I'll come to you. I'll leave here right now."

"You won't. You won't. And even if you did, my generals, they wont let you land."

Rey ghosted a finger along his scarred jaw, and instinctively Ben leaned forward, face dropping towards hers.

"I'm still on Jakku, Ben. Tell me where you are, and then you'll have an idea of how long you have to wait."

"No. No." He pushed her away. "No. It's nearly time Rey."

Ben let go of the embrace, and stepped away from her. He smiled sadly at her, a smile that in no way reached his eyes and was full of nothing but pain.

"I'm glad I got to see you again Rey. To say goodbye."

Rey screamed his name as he closed the link, and firmly kept it locked against her.

*****

LD-2ZY finished packing her trunk, as Rey changed in to a dark grey jumpsuit and sturdy combat boots. She had determined to leave tonight, as soon as she had spoken to her Master. LD loaded her trunk on to a hover trolley one of the GRC had brought, and Rey watched from doorway until the droid was gone. Almost immediately Anakin was there, called to her side by her distress.

There was no preamble, no salutation. Rey launched straight into it.

"Ben plans to do something terrible."

"Blow up a planet type terrible, or just kidnap a few of your friends terrible? Ahh.. memories.."

"Be serious." Rey threw a cushion at Anakin, which would have passed straight through him if he hadn't caught it. "No, the only person he's trying to hurt is himself."

Anakin sat down on the armrest of one of the couches, and dropped the cushion he had been holding.

"Can't say the same thing didn't occur to me a few times after I turned to the dark side. Do you know how and when?"

Rey shook her head. "I'm not sure how, but I know he intends it to be soon. He's waiting for something. How do I find him?"

Anakin shook his head. "Other than asking him? I don't think you can. All you can do is get off this system and head to Batuu like you intended. From there you should be able to find out where the First Order is and try to get to him before he does anything."

She nodded decisively. "Right then, that's what I'll do."

"And Rey? It's vitally important you do find him. Whatever is coming, I'm fairly sure you're supposed to be facing it together. Good luck."

Rey smiled tightly, before grabbing her staff and clipping the lightsaber to her belt. "I'll see you soon Master."

The hangar was not part of the main complex. It was accessed by a deep tunnel that ran many kilometres to the north from Carbon Ridge to Kelvin Ravine, and as Rey circled around to look back at the crack in the ravine to mark the coordinates she marvelled at the engineering. The twin moons of Jakku shed enough light for Rey to see that the closing hangar doors looked like sheets of rock in the wall, and she knew when the were sealed they would look like part of the natural features of Kelvin Ravine. _Not unlike the entrance on Carbon Ridge_ , Rey mused to herself, _you'd be hard pressed to find it unless you knew it was there_.

Having marked the coordinates into the computer for her return, Rey pushed her X-wing into maximum planetary speed and shot forward out of Jakku's atmosphere.

Batuu, her first planned stop was not far from Jakku, but she had a few hours. Once the navigational systems were marked with the various jumps, Rey switched to autopilot and let herself drift off in to doze.

*****

The Resistance had come to the Black Spire Outpost on Batuu, hoping to make alliances, procure supplies, and if they were lucky maybe even settle a base here. The First Order weren't looking for them here - they were hunting the Kendoh Gang, but First Order intelligence had picked up that the Resistance had a presence in Black Spire, leading to the unexpected clash.

Kylo Ren had remained aboard the Finalizer, but the news that the Resistance were engaged with his troops had brought him planetside along with his personal division and four of the six Knights Of Ren. Kylo marched at the head of his personal division against them. Under Snoke he had gained a reputation for vicious brutality and a fiery temper, but Poe Dameron shivered from something more as Ren marched implacably towards him. The empty expression of the man marching towards him as Poe and his team sheltered behind a broken wall of rock terrified Poe, far more than the mask of Kylo Ren ever had. As did the way the man seemed to almost ignore the blaster bolts fired towards him until he deflected them with his fiery blade at the last moment.

The four Knights of Ren had disappeared almost immediately, and Poe wondered what they were up to. Pinned as Poe and his team were, he was worried about the potential of being trapped between two groups if the Knights were circling around. He looked over his small squad, and nodded at Jess Pava who carried the comm unit.

"Has anyone seen the Knights" Poe yelled at her over the sound of blaster fire.

Jess relayed the request, listening back to a response from Kaydel who was aboard one of the Mon Calamari ships in low orbit currently evading the First Order fleet. Poe waited, before Jess nodded affirmatively at him.

"Headed towards Black Spire," Jess noted. "Kay thinks they might be chasing Vi and Archex. Hux just posted a million credit bounty for Archex."

 _Kriffing spies and their questionable backgrounds_ , Poe thought, but he was relieved nonetheless. He only had Kylo to worry about.

The division came to a halt, forming up around Kylo and all weapons trained on the broken ridge of stone blue squadron were hidden behind.

"Dameron," the low baritone of Kylo Ren carried to them. "Come out and face me, and I'll let your team go."

Jess shook her head at Poe, and mouthed a _No_. Poe shrugged his shoulders at her, as if to ask _what_ , and Jess rolled her eyes back at him.

"You're not thinking about it," Jess hissed quietly.

Poe _had_ thought about it for a moment, before he realised there wasn't much of a choice if he wanted his team to escape. And Kylo might not kill him, more likely he'd take him prisoner. Probably torture him for information again... Poe waved his team towards the brush hiding the hidden path they had been intending to take. It lead down the other side of the hillside, away from Black Spire, to the valley his squad hand landed in. 

"I'll buy you some time," Poe whispered, "but you need to _move_. And do me a favour Jess? If he takes me prisoner again make sure you kriffing rescue me."

He smiled, then leaned his head back and called back to Ren.

"What guarantee do I have you'll keep your word?."

"None," Kylo admitted, but then Poe heard him order the division to fall back. 

Poe slowly turned and peered over the broken rock, a natural low wall that had sheltered him and his team. The troppers were indeed retreating back down the hillside, leaving Kylo alone on the small clearing at the top of the ridge. The crossguard lightsaber of so many nightmares was lit, and Kylo lazily twirled it as he waited for Poe to make his appearance.

Poe ducked back down and pressed his back against the rock, banging his head lightly a few times to check this wasn't a dream.

"Kriff." 

He stood up and turned to look at Ren. They eyed each other for a long moment, then Poe shrugged and quickly hauled himself over the broken rock to place himself on the same field as Ren, although neither immediately made any further move. Kylo continued to twirl the saber, until he finally narrowed his eyes at Poe and gave him a grim nod.

"So are we going to kill each other?" Poe quipped eventually. "Because it kinda seems you've got the advantage here."

"It does, doesn't it, " Kylo answered dully, "and you _do_ want to kill me, don't you Dameron?"

Poe fingered the clasp of his holster, but made no to actually draw the weapon.

"Draw it," Kylo told him, "go ahead and fire at me. Kill the Supreme Leader."

Poe cocked his head, recalling the last time he had fired on Kylo Ren. More than half a year ago, in the Jakku desert.

 _This fucker is toying with me,_ Poe thought. _I shoot, he just freezes the bolt, or hits it back at me with his blade._

"Go ahead," Kylo repeated softly, almost as if he was _compelling_ him. "You'll be the _hero_ of the resistance."

Poe frowned, but still resisted drawing his weapon. The longer he could draw this out, the more time his squad had to get away. Kylo's free hand had balled up in a fist and Poe could see the visibly increasing tension in the muscles of Kylo's neck.

"FIRE AT ME," the dark cloaked Ren suddenly screamed at him. "Take your shot Dameron! Make the General proud, tell her it was _you_ who cut down the Mighty Kylo Ren."

Kylo started pacing and swaying from side to side, bringing his saber forward to point it at Poe at Kylo's eye level. Poe had the distinct impression the man in front of him was not in full control of his mental faculties, and he swallowed nervously. Poe realised Ren almost certainly had no intention of capturing him, in deed he doubted there was any sensible plan and Kylo was winging it.

But now Kylo wasn't really looking at him. The blade was still pointed at Poe, but he had cocked his head as listening to something only he could hear. Ren closed his eyes for a second, then opened his eyes and shook his head slightly.

 _He's hearing voices_ , Poe thought incredulously. _The First Order is lead by a madman._

A low rumble could now be heard in the distance, and Ren looked to the horizon over Poe's shoulder. Poe had the distinct impression Kylo was no longer aware Poe was even there, and he backed away slowly back to the broken rocks. He slowly drew his blaster, thumbing off the safety and pointing it at Kylo Ren who seemed completely oblivious.

The rumble grew louder, and suddenly the scream of quad engines filled the air as a vaguely family craft with blue streaks flew low in the peripheral of his right visual field. The exhaust and the rush of air from the vessels wake forced Poe backwards as it crested over him, and he abandoned his chance to fire on the Supreme Leader in favour of leaping back over the rock wall and bolting for the path back to his team. He threw a look over his shoulder at Ren, but he no longer seemed to be aware of Poe, instead his gaze transfixed by the vessel. His saber lay still in his right hand, pointed downwards, and he slowly turned his body to track the path of the vessel.

Poe was halfway down the hillside before he realised why the vessel was familiar. It was the same ship Rey had taken when she deserted the Resistance.

The moment her X wing dropped out of hyperspace Rey could only laugh roughly at what she was presented with. 

_The Force works in mysterious ways_ , she scoffed, quoting Anakin. 

She'd gone looking for Ben, but had been expecting to have to seek a path to him not to drop out of hyperspace directly in front of his flagship. Before anyone had a chance to fire on her she twisted the controls and dipped downwards towards the planet.

Rey could feel his presence on the planet below. At this range the Force was like an unerring compass, magnetised to always point in his direction, and she followed it. As the X-wing approached closer, other familiar signatures could be felt. _Poe_ , and he was close to Ben. _Finn_ was down there somewhere too. 

Rey closed her eyes and tried to reach out to Ben, who was still trying to block her out. But at this distance, and in such a disordered mental state, Ben couldn't entirely prevent her reaching him.

_He is standing on the ridge of a low mountain. He knows the Resistance are just ahead, his division can easily catch them. The Order didn't come here for them, and whilst Hux has embraced the unexpected opportunity their presence affords, Ben simply doesn't care about catching them._

_It's true he came to the planet in response to the Resistance, but Ben just wants to find someone to pass a message to his mother. Poe is a bonus. The man who has replaced him in his mother's heart - it will be poetic if Poe is the one who kills him._

_Ben's not even going to fight. He's taunting Poe, trying to provoke him in to firing on him. And Rey is fairly sure Poe will do it._

Rey opened her eyes, and pushed the ship to it's maximum speed.

Kylo Ren watched the X-wing streak past him. Even if he hadn't recognised the vessel itself, he knew exactly who the Force signature belonged too.

 _Rey,_ he acknowledged. _You should not have come_.

He could feel her still, even though the ship had travelled a considerable distance away already, and he watched it dip over a ridge without coming back up. Somewhere close to the Outpost she must have landed her vessel. 

Kylo shook his head again to rid himself of his thoughts, and marched back towards his soldier.

"Pull the division out," Kylo called to the commander as he strode towards them, his long legs quickly covering the distance between them.

*****

A scavenger's instincts were hard to ignore, and Rey had chosen to land the X-Wing in a small grove of trees backing up against a cliff. A small pond with a stream running through it made it a pretty sight, but Rey had chosen it for the obvious capacity to hide her vessel. A direct pass overhead wouldn't hide it, but a lifetime on Jakku had taught her to protect her haul from others.

Rey pulled a small carry bag from the posterior seat of the X-wing, and threw a long black cloak over her grey tunic. The presence of familiar force signatures on this planet meant she might be recognised, and she needed to cover her face. The single pony tail of her longer hair and the pale skin of more than half a year out of sunlight was only protection from the most casual glance, and Rey didn't want to be pulled into anything other than her singular mission to get to Ben.

She also knew there was no way she was making it on to his vessel in her ship. But she had seen the troop transports landed at the Outpost, and a plan had quickly formed.

The Outpost was only a couple of miles, and months of training had conditioned Rey well. She covered the ground in a quick, distance consuming jog that barely taxed her, only slowing as she approached the Outpost where she dropped back to an inconspicuous walk. Rey quickly threaded her way through the Outpost, skirting around frightened civilians and First Order Officers alike, projecting the idea of "nobody, nothing" as she went. It was effective in leading those around to ignore her, although she remained hidden under the cloak. No point in pushing it.

Rey could sense Ben, distantly, and noted the dark coloured command shuttle she recognised as his when it lifted off and headed out of the atmosphere. 

_All the better,_ Rey though, _sneaking in will be easier if he's not watching down here._

She found a troop transport on one of the outdoor landing bays soon after, and observed it for a few minutes. There were no officers that she could see, just two Stormtroopers at attention who were obviously guarding the vessel. Rey frowned, an idea coming to her, and she closed her eyes as she reached out, feeling for their minds. 

_Susceptible_ , Rey thought. _This should work._

Rey strode purposefully towards the Stormtroopers. What she was proposing to do wasn't particularly hard, provided the mind was suitably susceptible, but required significant confidence to pull it off. She'd only done it a few times - once on Starkiller during her escape, and once on Snap who had been on guard the night she left the Resistance. Both times she had performed the trick without much effort, and the first time she hadn't even known what she was doing. So the confidence part should be easy.

"You will do as I tell you," Rey instructed in a honeyed monotone, vaguely waving her left hand in front of the.

"I am here to serve," the first Trooper intoned.

"I am at your command," added the second.

*****

Marching back in to the outpost with the Division, Kylo's rage was barely contained. Approaching the landing platform that his shuttle perched upon, his division streams off toward their transport on the next platform over. Unstable as he felt, Kylo was still aware of a disturbance ahead. Two black uniformed First Order Intelligence operatives had cornered a woman on the upper catwalk, dark skinned with blue hair, and he realised he _knew_ her somehow,

 _Vi Morandi,_ Kylo realised, although he couldn't recall if she was intelligence, counterintelligence, or something else to do with spying. 

He really didn't care if they caught her or not. What he did care about however, was the young girl trying to protect Morandi. She was thin and had brown hair highlighted with shades of gold, and from this angle she reminded him of Rey. The girl wasn't the scavenger though - no familiar Force signature, not tall enough, and when the First Order officers struck her across the face she was unable to protect herself as she tumbled over the railing and landed with a large thump. Morandi looked horrified, but the officers had not even noticed.

Almost-Rey lay still, and Kylo rushed forward to examine her. Up close, on his knees as he lifted her head and checked for a pulse, Kylo could see there were clear differences, most notably no freckles and the glassy unseeing eyes were a deep brown. But the casual disregard at which this young woman's life had been taken, and the lack of acknowledgement enraged him. She didn't deserve to die.

Kylo let out a roar of rage and ignited his saber. Using the Force to effortlessly leap, he spun over the railing and landing on his feet. Morandi shrunk back, thinking the Supreme Leader himself was about to kill her, but he muttered a low growl to her meant for her ears ownly.

_"Stay behind me, and stay out of the way."_

Kylo gripped the saber, and twirled it behind his back menacingly as stared down the officers. They were young men, Kylo realised, but the cruel smirks obliterated any other thought and he had no intention of remembering anything further about them. They didn't deserve to be remembered.

He uttered a scream of rage as he ran at them, spinning around at the last moment to run his saber through the middle of one from back to front, and bring the point of his blade through the front of the second to finish them both in one movement. Kylo stood panting heavily, a thousand thoughts flitting rapidly through his mind but the singular most bothersome was _that could have been Rey if she had stayed with the resistance_. He shook his head.

Morandi simply stared at him; despite Kylo exerting no hold over her she could not move. This was.... unexpected.

He took a few rapid breaths and then acknowledged her.

"She deserved better than that," Kylo Ren explained simply. "And in her honour I won't capture you."

Morandi nodded and swallowed against her suddenly dry mouth.

"But if I were you, I would _run_."

Knowing he would not raise a hand against her, but neither would he protect her from anyone else, Morandi bolted.

*****

Kylo ignored Hux completely as he disembarked from the Command shuttle. The pallid red head was clearly displeased to find the Supreme Leader returning from Batuu without anything to show for it, but for once limited himself to flared nostrils and narrowed eyes asKylo walked away towards the back of the hangar.

Hux was grateful for his own self restraint when an unprovoked Kylo suddenly pulled out his saber and slashed furiously at an engineering console, swearing and screaming. After a moment the Supreme Leader pulled himself together, and called back to Hux.

"There will be no meeting of the Council this evening Hux. And I am not to be disturbed. I want to be alone in my quarters."

Hux nodded. "Very good sir."

Word of the outburst in the hanger must have travelled, because Kylo Ren encountered few personnel as he walked towards his quarters. The moment the door to his quarters slammed shut behind him, he began shedding garments. First the cloak, then the gloves, the cloying overtunic and the long boots, all discarded on the floor and left where they lay. Ignoring the ghost of his Uncle who these days just flickered in and out to give the occasional judgmental grimace, Kylo grabbed a couple of bottles of Corellian whiskey from a table in the lounge area and took it with him to his bedroom. 

Kylo had never really been a drinker - nor had Ben Solo - but at this moment in his life Kylo felt it was appropriate. It wasn't as if he had to worry about a hangover. He sat down on the end of his bed and worked the lid off the first bottle, one that he had opened and used only once or twice previously. Kylo made a grimace at the first swig, _how could anyone enjoy the taste of this stuff_ , but continued to drink in large gulps like a man possessed. Which Kylo was sure he was.

The first bottle was gone in less than a standard hour, and he moved on to the second one. At the three quarter mark he felt number enough to get up off the edge of the bed and go to the bathroom. Except the floor wasn't wear he left it. Or maybe the gravity generator on the ship needed to be adjusted.

All he knew was that he was lying on the cold hard steel plate floor, the empty bottle butting up against his shoulder and the almost empty bottle still clasped in his hand. Kylo gave a short, pathetic laugh, and gulped down the quarter bottle of whiskey that remained. He couldn't taste it any more anyway.

For some reason all Kylo could think of was Rey. The hazel eyes that shone green when she was about to cry, and almost brown when she glared at him. The soft pink lips that he had kissed, and wanted to keep kissing. In his drunken state Kylo could almost touch her, as if she was in the same room and reaching out to him, tears in her eyes. He sook his head trying to clear that false image.

_He knows this isn't a real memory. The Force is giving him a glimpse into the original path it had laid out before them. He doesn't know where things diverged, but it happened early, and it was not a divergence of his making._

_They sit side by side on grass mats inside the Temple, the same one that burned down the night he left. Before them sit some of the younglings, and she is demonstrating levitating rocks. One of the younglings winks at her, a small blonde boy in a brown smock._

_"Come on Master Solo", the boy whispers, "do it again!."_

_Ben thinks the boy is talking to him, but then she winks back at the boy and suddenly Ben is rising up off the mat and then dangling upside down as if suspended by his ankles. She chortles along with the children and Ben grins good naturedly before settling a mock scowl on his face._

_"Mrs Solo! That is hardly the way to show respect to a Jedi Master!."_

_She giggles, but spins him around so that he lands on his feet as she slowly drops him to the ground. He steps toward her and pulls her up to him in one smooth motion, before wrapping her in his arms and then capturing her mouth with his. The younglings giggle, and she blushes, before turning to the younglings. But she doesn't free herself from his arms, locking a hand on one of his wrists to keep him to her._

_"All right younglings, time to put away your mats and go wash up for dinner."_

_As the younglings do as they are asked, he pulls her back in to his chest, and his hands drop lower. She places her hands over his to settle them still there, grounding him to her as he marvels at the gentle and subtle swell of her belly and the first stirrings of new life he can feel there._

Kylo wasn't sure when he had begun to cry. But sure enough, he was snivelling like a child, crying over a love that was never his in the first place. He didn't know if what he had just seen was a vision or a drunken fantasy, but he realised that was the kind of simple and happy life he had been searching for even underneath all of his torment. Something that, thanks to Snoke and the voices in his head, he could never had.

There wasn't anything left to stay for, and he no longer cared if there was nobody to replace him. All Kylo knew was that he needed to get up off the floor and find his kriffing saber. After several failed attempts where he kept slumping sideways to the floor, Kylo managed to stand upright. He reached out his arm, palm splayed, and called his blade to him.


	7. Saving Ben Solo

The storage area under the rear deck plating of the troop carrier was tight, but fortunately for Rey there were small grates in the flooring that allowed both sufficient airflow to breathe as well as dim lighting so she didn't _entirely_ feel like she was in her own coffin.

It was only a quarter hour or so from her arrival on the landing pad in Batuu until the division returned to the transport, and then another half hour to the Finalizer. An uncomfortable period of time in such a tight hiding spot, but by using the Force to meditate she managed not to panic. The next problem was getting off the carrier without being seen, followed by the not so simple task of actually finding her way to Ben.

 _A map of the ship isn't likely to be just lying around_ , Rey thought. 

Fortunately, Rey had a good understanding of the general layout of star ships. Granted, the Finalizer was a good deal bigger than any of the ships she had scavenged before, but the basic layout was hopefully the same. Senior officers almost certainly had quarters on the upper levels, near the command bridge. So if she could find the bridge tower, she would be in the neighbourhood so to speak.

Rey just had to find a way to get there without being caught.

 _Assuming Ben is actually in his quarters_. 

And yet, somehow, she was absolutely certain that was exactly where he was right now. 

_Well then, assuming he **stays** there._

Rey was certain he would.

She waited a good five minutes after the last Trooper exited the carrier before carefully lifting the decking panel she lay under and climbed out. Settling her bag across her shoulder under the cloak,and pulling the hood over her head, Rey took a quick peek out of the carrier.

 _Excellent_. They had landed close the port side wall of the hangar, and Rey could see the door labelled "Service Access Only" only a short distance away. She remembered from previous ship scavenging that these sort of doors in a hanger generally led to storerooms or engineering corridors.

Trying to project an air of unimportance with the Force, _nothing to see, not important, nobody there,_ Rey stepped and strode briskly to the door.

Across the hangar, a single stormtrooper suddenly cocked his head, and turned slowly to see a black cloaked figure slip through the doorway, before another trooper banged him on the shoulder to bring his attention back to the task of unloading one of the command shuttles.

The door led to a small anteroom, with a few benches and a counter with a caf dispenser. It was obviously used as a break room, but fortunately it was empty. Directly ahead of her was a corridor, and with no other way out of this room other than back through the door she had entered, Rey quickly slipped inside.

The floor was black enamelled much like the decking plates of the hangar, with regularly spaced rounded light fittings set into it, and the walls and ceiling were backlit behind grated wall panels at regular intervals. Much like the walls of Starkiller, and the Supremacy, and even the familiar Imperial ships of the Jakku graveyard and her new home on Carbon Ridge; a shared design aesthetic that unwittingly spoke of the origin of the First Order from the ashes of the Empire.

Not far along the corridor, perhaps a dozen or so metres, there was an irregularity in the lighting of the walls. To her right, there was a change in the backlit panels, with two lighting strips about a metre apart on the right wall instead of the usual single lighting strip as was seen on the left. Noticing such irregularities had often yielded her great spoils on Jakku. Rey reached out to touch the wall between the two light strips, and smiled to herself when she felt what lay beyond. Feeling along the wall panel for a moment, she felt a change and pressed harder with her palm.

The panel hissed, and slide sideways, opening onto a square shaft with a ladder on the far wall. An access tunnel.

The access shaft terminated three decks above where Rey started, and when she opened the panel Rey found herself in a small engineering sub-control room. There were a number of consoles and control panels on the walls, and a central column with a holographic emitter that immediately sparked Rey's interest.

Flicking a few controls, Rey was able to switch the emitter on, and smiled as she realised it displayed the engineering diagrams for the vessel. Using a flat touchpad that slid outwards from beneath the emitter, she was able to search various locations. 

The Supreme Leaders quarters were easy enough to find, as was her current location. It only too a few moments, and Rey was able to map a course to Ben. Her gingers paused over the controls for a moment, thinking.

The fastest route to Ben would leave her exposed, passing through some of the more heavily trafficked areas of the ship. Strong with the Force she might be, but even in her cloak and projecting her shield she'd never make it. Rey frowned, taking a moment, and closed her eyes.

 _Show me the way_ , Rey breathed silently. Eyes still closed, her fingers flew over the touchpad making a small detour.

A small _thunk_ sound, and then almost directly the left of the touchpad a dispenser slid forward. Inside lay a small flat black glass square, slightly longer than Rey's hand but it's width easily grasped in her finger. A screen lit up as soon as she touched it, with her mapped course on it. It made sense, Rey supposed, that on a ship this size engineering crews might require some kid of device to find their way.

 _I suppose the map wasn't just lying around,_ Rey thought to herself, smiling. _Although I still found one easily enough_.

She slipped the map inside the pocket of her jumpsuit at her left hip, and shut down the emitter, before padding softly to the only other door in the room. Using the Force Rey reached out to feel what lay beyond. A small squad of troopers marching down that corridor, but the were far off and travelling away from he location. A pair of officers, closer but caught up in their own conversation and not looking in her direction. It was safe to step out, but she still took a deep breath and a moment to double check with her eyes before Rey stepped out into the corridor.

She knew the first leg of her map had told her where to aft, almost a thousand metres. Rey strode purposefully, trying to look like she belonged, as much as a cloaked figure not in uniform on a First Order vessel could. She continued to project her shield, _nothing to see, not important, nobody there_ , and successfully passed the pair of chatting officers without being questioned.

The detour didn't seem to make a lot of sense at first. Directly to port, down a narrower side corridor, and in through a room, then back out again and almost back to her hiding spot in the sub-control ? But, since she had asked the Force and been told where to go, she followed.

Outside the door, which had been slid open, Rey paused. A series of loud "thwacks" and pained grunts could be heard, and Rey peaked in to the room from the doorframe. Half hidden behind a perforated metal screen, two figures in black tunics and pants were battling each other with sparring sticks. She could tell they were humanoid, but whether they were _human_ or not could not really be ascertained behind the screen from this distance. She felt a malevolent evil surrounding them, and realised these were two of the Knights of Ren.

 _The Force wanted me to come **here**_? Was she supposed to fight them for some Force-forsaken reason?

Swallowing nervously, Rey's finger inched toward her right hip where her saber was clipped at her rear.... and then her fingers stopped. Directly in front of her, hanging on a pair of hooks, were two masks. Cautiously, since the Knights of Ren were rumoured to be Force-sensitive to varying degrees, Rey reached out with a hand and the Force. Both were ugly, but the less offensive appearing one floated off the peg toward her. It had polished pinhole mesh steel face shield, a face guard of black scored square plates, and black metal for the head peace with long linear curves gouged into it from front to back. 

It smelled terrible, like sweat and smoke and something rotted like week old spilled blood, but Rey had to admit with the mask in place and her cloak drawn around her, she might just pass as a Knight of Ren. As long as she kept up her shield, and nobody knew the owner of this mask well. Quickly, she followed her map back towards the main corridor and towards Ben.

In the hangar, the curious Stormtrooper and his company had finished unloading their shuttle and were dismissed to their quarters. Whilst his fellow troopers marched out toward a 'fresher and a meal, he quickly crossed the floor to the same door he had seen the cloaked figure enter. Quickly glancing around to check that he was not noticed, he hit the entry panel and quickly darted inside.

At first, Rey found personnel were staring at her, questioning what they were seeing, the opposite of what she had intended. Quickly, skimming the minds of the personnel around her, she realised the affectation of it was all wrong. Kyklo Ren was Master of the Knights of Ren, and she realised they would emulate his behaviour. She couldn't turn inwards and try to be ignored - A Knight of Ren probably stomped along the hallways and dominated the space they were in.... terrifying lesser mortals.

Rey stood tall, still keeping her cloak drawn in to disguise the jumpsuit below (definitely not a Knight's outfit). She shifted her legs to take a wider stance and affected a slight stomp as she marched. Instead of the shield she projected to encourage people to ignore her, _nothing to see, not important, nobody there,_ Rey's mental projection changed. 

_Danger, stay away, don't come near._

The turbolifts to the Bridge tower were well toward the back of the ship. Her new disguise served her well, with nobody questioning her or interfering. Although there were some definitely curious eyes, nobody was brave enough to approach.

The Stormtrooper approached the access shaft in the tunnel, and paused for a moment. He pulled off the armour of one had and reached out to lightly brush fingers along it. He wasn't sure what it meant, but he had a feeling that something.. perhaps someone had been here. He cocked his head, then tilted in back to look up to the ceiling above. Something went that way.. but then he pulled his hand back and shook his head slightly as he replaced the armour. Yes, an instinct told him something important went that way, but it was not his mission. He continued along the tunnel.

Clutching the hilt of his unlit saber in his left hand, and still in sock clad feet, Kylo Ren managed to stumble in to what he had come to call his "museum". It was a small room containing various artefacts in cases, on pedestals, or attached to the walls. The most important object, on one black pedestal in the centre of everything else, sat a hermetically sealed box that would open only to his touch. Within it lay the melted mask of his grandfather, Lord Vader.

Kylo veered sideways a little as he approached the box, finally coming to rest in front of the pedestal. With his free hand Kylo gripped the pedestal, trying not to fall, just holding on for a moment. When he felt his stance was stable, he reached forward his right hand and place it palm down on the box for a moment. As he lifted his hand again the box slid open with a hiss, and Kylo gazed down at the mask within, before returning his now trembling right hand a laying it over the mask. The old reverence, once genuine but more recently mere habit, was no longer there.

 _Grandfather_ , he thought, closing his eyes and reaching out. _You have forsaken me as all others have._

The softly glowing presence of Luke Skywalker began to permeate the room, and Kylo dropped the hand that had been on the mask.

"You will not get an answer from that thing," Luke declared. "You know what it really is".

Kylo's shoulders rolled in defeat. "A trick of Snoke. It was never Vader was it?"

Skywalker's ghost said nothing in reply, and Kylo sighed defeatedly.

"I wasted _years_ thinking the dark side had a great destiny for me. Now it seems I am nothing, my life wasted chasing a trick."

An anger sparked in Kylo, and he passed the hilt from his left hand to his right ignited his saber. Filled with the same frustrated fury that he felt when he had destroyed the console in the hangar, and with a roar of anger he slashed at the mask in the still open box, destroying it and pedestal alone.

"I HAVE NO DESTINY."

Rey stood impassively by the turbolift doors, ignoring the half dozen officers also waiting waiting for the lift. A pair of very junior officers, hardly more than teenagers, were whispering in the sort of voice that actually carries when the people whispering think they are not being overheard.

_"Is that a new Knight?"._

_"I think you're right. Wow, Larrak, just... wow. The Supreme Leader must have been lonely"_

_"What the hell do you mean Maddon?"_

_"Are you blind, man? This one is a woman. All the Knights so far have been men. The Supreme Leader has himself a whore."_

Hidden behind the mask, Rey' scowled. She turned her head slowly so that she was looking directly at the pair, and altered her shield to project pure menace, before turning to look again towards the turbolift doorway.

She could feel the officer's fear but she remained silent; the implied message received by all watching.

_You don't fuck with a Knight._

The turbolift doors opened and two deck officers stepped out. The assumed Knight of Ren entered the Lift, and none of the waiting crowd seemed to think it prudent to enter the lift with her. It was only a few moments before the doors reopened on another floor, and then a red haired man in a general's uniform stepped in to the lift. He was tale, past white skinned, and accompanied by a dark skinned woman of equal rank according to her insignia.. She'd never met the man before, but his face and voice were familiar from First Order propaganda over the holonet.

_Armitage Hux._

Rey bit her lip, keeping her head bent and control on her shield. Huxe's eyes slid over her briefly but seemed to pay no real notice.

"I don't see why Ren feels the need to bring Pryde in to the Council. He's been in the Unknown Regions for too long, Parnadee. He's out of touch."

"The _Supreme Leader_ ," Parnadee corrected. "And didn't Pryde save your family after the battle of Jakku?"

Hux sniffed, but said nothing else.

The lift opened again, still well below the bridge, and Hux and Parnadee stepped out again. Rey breathed a sigh of relief as the doors closed and she continued on their way, thankfully alone again.

*****

The Stormtrooper had reached the armoury. He was fairly sure which storage compartments he was after, but examined the wall for a moment to try and recall the layout last time he was in the room. 

Experimentally he opened a couple of compartments, quickly finding the first one that had what he was looking for, and from there was able to identify two more with similar contents. He grabbed a heavy rucksack from another cabinet, and began filling it with explosive charges from the open cabinets.

*****

When the doors opened again, Rey stepped out on to a small landing. She looked left and the right, noting the viewing windows at each end, and the single wide but simple door which lay across from the turbolift doors.

Ben was behind that door. Rey was sure of it; her heart began to pound, and she swallowed nervously as a bad feeling came over her. Something was about to happen, and Rey was sure it wasn't good. 

She turned to the door of the Supreme Leader's quarters, and examined the touchpad by the door before pressing on one of the icons. Faintly, beyond the door, Rey heard the peal of a call bell.

Kylo Ren was on his knees in the middle of his artefact room, surrounded by the evidence of his latest tantrum. Vader's mask and the box in which it lay still smoked from the saber's work. There was nothing left to do, and Kylo examined the hilt of his saber. The blade was no longer lit, but the hilt was still held heat, and his fingers were uncomfortably warm as they absorbed that heat. He was noted idly that he had taken his gloves off at some point during the evening, but couldn't remember when. 

Dimly, he heard the sound of his door call, but Kylo ignored it. The saber that had once been a clear blue had taunted him with it's unstable red. Kylo thought of all the evil that had been done in the name of Snoke and his own supposed destiny. The door to his quarters was now a steady drumming, someone was beating fiercely on it, and his heart seemed to beat at the same rate. Kylo closed his eyes, and unbidden he saw Han Solo's face. At that same moment, the Force bridged the connection between Kylo and Rey, and she watched in horror

_He was face to face with him, on the bridge. He had already taken off his mask at the behest of Solo._

_"I'm being torn apart. I want to be free of this pain."_

_The hilt that he had proffered to Han Solo was still in his grasp as well, and for a moment Ben almost chose to follow his father._

_Stars, he hadn't called him that in almost 20 years. That was Han Solo, the great Rebel general, smuggler, and neglectful parent who no longer had the right to be called "father". And then Kylo Ren acted to cement his fall to the dark side, taking an action that could never be undone. He ignited the blade, and as it tore through the chest of Han Solo, Kylo Ren was surprised by the pain ripping through his own chest._

Kylo opened his eyes and looked down to the hilt in his hands, and saw the red blade buried in his own chest. The blade stuttered and died as he let go of the hilt, and it dropped to the floor in front of him. There was pain of course, but not as much as he had thought, and he felt oddly at peace. There was very little blood, the blade instantly cauterising the wound, but the hole through his right lung was an utlimately mortal wound. Kylo collapsed forwards from his kneeling position, landing on all fours and crawling towards the nearby wall. 

The moment the blade was ignited the connection closed, and Rey was standing in front of the door again. She reached out with the her left hand and her mind, asking the Force to show her what to do, and it answered with a small crackling bolt of electricity that shot into the access pad by the door. It flew open, and Rey raced inside, the door closing again behind her with a thunk. She chased the pull from the Force toward Ben.

She found him in a small room that seemed to house the strangest collection of objects. He was on his hands and knees, half crawling, half dragging himself towards the wall. Rey ran to him, kneeling down to his left and helping Ben to sit with his back against the wall, supporting him. He gave a small moan of pain as he sat, and he closed his eyes.

 _I'm too late_.

Ben's eyes fluttered and he looked up at her and sighed. 

"Vicrul?"

Rey ripped the mask off and threw it across the room, and quickly followed it with the cloak. Ben stared at Rey, a confused look on his face as tears began to course down Rey's cheeks. She shook her head in disbelief and anger. 

"What are your doing here," Ben groaned, staring at her glassy eyed. 

Rey pushed back the dark hair hanging over his forehead and gave him a small, teary smile. He was panting slightly, pain obvious on his features.

"I came to take your hand," Rey sobbed. "I came to save Ben Solo."

Ben closed his eyes again, and for a moment Rey thought he had stopped breathing. But then Ben took another gasp, and she could see his chest working in stuttering spasms.

"The Force has granted me my last wish. I wanted to see your face again. Don't cry Rey, in my dreams you're not supposed to cry."

She leaned forward and kissed his cheek. 

"You kriffing idiot Ben Solo. It's not a dream, I'm really here."

He mumbled something, but she couldn't make out the words, and then he coughed. With it came the blood. Not a great deal of it, just a small trickle from his mouth, but it filled Rey with dread. He slumped slighty, and Rey quickly sat down on his left side with legs out in front of her. She caught his falling head on her right shoulder as he suddenly continued his progression towards the floor. After a moment, Rey pulled him down into her lap, his head lying in her left arm, shoulders and upper back over her thighs. Rey brushed the hair away from his eyes with her right hand, and lay her palm on his forehead for a moment. 

_I can't lose him. The Force connected us for a reason..._

Ben was still breathing, but it was the desperate, erratic breaths of one not far from death and Rey could feel his presence in the Force fading fast.

"I know what I have to do," Rey promised him, "I just hope I have the strength to do it."

She closed her eyes and reached out with the Force, moving the palm from his forehead to lay over the horrid wound in his chest. She had known, when she healed the broken crystal at the heart of the Skywalker saber, that there was a greater potential for the trance she had used. Her left arm supported Ben's head, but her right one hovered above the sucking chest wound that heaved with every breath Ben took.

Rey closed her eyes, gathering that part of the Force within her that was her own life energy, and let it flow out into Ben. 

The wound began to slowly close, although the unconscious Ben was still gasping for breath. The effort of what she was doing was exhausting, but unwilling to leave him Rey redoubled her efforts with a grunt. 

Finally, Ben took a deep and painless breath and Rey felt his awareness return. 

She tiredly opened her eyes to look down at the man who lay in her lap. His large brown eyes were filled with awe, and shone with unshed tears.

Rey leaned forward to rest her forehead against his, and blinked slowly.

"Are you alright," she huffed, exhausted.

"I am. I don't understand it, but I'm free of.... all of it."

Ben reached up to stroke loose strands of hair from her temple.

 _You're here,_ Ben wondered silently. _You came_.

"Of course I came," Rey said aloud. "I couldn't let you do it. We can't lose each other."

Ben's hand at her temple stilled, and he stiffened in surprise. Did she really feel that way? He pulled himself into a sitting position and turned to the woman slumped against the wall to his left.

Ben cupped her face with his hands and just looked at her for a moment, a wondering expression on his face. Tentatively he pressed his lips against hers, and Rey responded, granting him their second kiss. Ben felt a dampness on his cheek, and concerned he released her lips from his own. But despite the tears, she was smiling at him.

"I'd like to keep doing that," Rey mumbled, "but I'm tired. Can I just sleep?"

Ben Solo smiled back at her, a wide toothy grin that lit up his whole face. He rose to his feet and helped her up after him. Rey was so tired however that she wobbled on her feet. Shrugging, Ben wrapped her arms around his neck, one arm under her shoulders and another under her thighs, and suddenly Rey found herself being carried towards a dimly lit hallway. She stared up in to his face as he lowered her to a warm, soft surface - _his bed_ , she realised - and as she drifted off to sleep it suddenly occurred to Rey that the scar she had marked him with was gone.

*****

Deep down in the lower levels of the Finalizer, Finn had taken off the suffocating Stormtrooper helmet. The last device in place, he set them all to detonate at the agreed time, and rested tiredly against a pillar for a moment, eyes closed. After a moment they snapped open and he stared upwards again, thinking about the strange feelings he'd had since the cloaked figure in the hanger.

Finn sighed, rubbed one finger against an aching temple, and clicked the hidden com with the other.

"Black Leader."

Poe's voice crackled back at him. "I read you buddy"

"Charges are set, ready to detonate as agreed."

"Great, get off that ship."

Finn paused for a second, thinking. It was an _instinct_.

"Black Leader, there's a small problem. I think Rey is on the ship."


	8. Crippled

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I should have stayed with you before... I wanted to. I will now. I won't leave you alone..."  
> Ben huffed in surprise. He had expected her to ask him to return home. Wherever that was.  
> "I can't rule the galaxy with you," her voice was small, "but I can stay with you."  
> "I don't want you to join me," Ben interrupted, and he felt her distress through their bond.  
> 

Rey had fallen asleep almost as soon as Ben had laid her on the large, soft bed. He covered her with a loose blanket and simply watched her sleep for what felt both forever and not enough time, sitting on the side of the bed, holding her hand.

She looked better than the last time he had seen her, despite her exhausted state. Better fed, less prominent sharp edges; stronger too both physically and with the Force. He eyed the saber that sat on the bedside, recognising it as Anakin's and impressed by her skill in repairing it. He wasn't sure he could have done the same.

Ben felt at peace, no longer driven by dark thoughts and self destruction. The despair he had felt for so many years was gone - first at the dark presence in his mind, then after his fall, his torture by Snoke, and finally finding nothing but emptiness and feeling so alone once he fulfilled his dark side promised destiny. Or Snoke's promise at least.

Rey's rejection, he realised, had not been a rejection of him but of the dark pathway he would have taken her down with him. It was a path Rey simply could not follow.

Ben had sought to free himself of his pain through death, and when Kylo Ren had died Rey had saved Ben Solo. No light side, no dark side, the only side Ben intended to follow from now on was hers.

He placed his right hand over the hole in his shirt, where the wound had been, and explored it with his fingers. Not even a trace of a scar. Ben lifted up the hem of the undershirt, looking for the scar to the left of his abdomen, just below the ribs, where Chewie had shot him. Nothing. He dropped the hem of his shirt and reached in under the neck line. The shoulder that FN2187 had marked with the Skywalker saber, that still pained him on occasion, was also unmarred. Finally, Ben's hands flew to his face, his fingers seeking the scar Rey had gifted him in their first fight. The absence of that scar was almost painful, almost as if the scar was the part of her etched into his soul.

Healing through the Force was a practice few Jedi had ever been able to achieve, and he could recall nothing he had ever read about it mentioning the healing of old injuries. Bringing someone back from the brink of death was unheard of. The act had exhausted her, and Ben wondered what might have happened had he been any closer to death - would Rey have kept trying? Would pushing past that final barrier have killed her?

Eventually, tired of the smell of alcohol and the stain of blood and sweat on his shirt, Ben decided to clean up. He left Rey sleeping comfortably, and grabbing a few items of clothing stepped into the 'fresher.

*****

_She isn't sure how long she has been working for Plutt this time. He has sold her off a few times already, buying her back at a reduced price each time._

_"She talks in her sleep, and sometimes to the air around her as if someone was there," her latest owner, an orange skinned female Elomin with a crown of horns, complained to Plutt. "She works hard, but weird things happen..."_

_"What sort of things," the Crolute queries, "She's never been a problem here."_

_But Rey thinks this must be a lie, because why else would Plutt keep selling her off?_

_The woman selling her agrees._ _"Why sell her then?"_

_"She's still too small to be useful. Can't scavenge, can't be used in the pleasure tents, and I've got droids for housekeeping."_

_This time, Plutt has put her to work amongst the junker ships in his yard, and she wants very much to be useful and maybe stay in one place. She needs to be around Niima outpost in case her parents come looking for her._

_By now she has earned a few of the scars she will carry the rest of her life. But she can't recall Plutt ever touching her - other than the day he took possession of her and that painful grip on her arm as she screamed for her family to come back._

_But just because Plutt never touches her, doesn't mean others feel the same restraint. She looks up at the junker Plutt has instructed her to repair, and rubs the black eye one of his thugs gave her for taking too long to select the part she needed for the repair._

_She's so hot, even here at the outpost._

_But this dream, one of her memories, is suddenly wrong - her arms feel heavy and her steps are sluggish, she can't move and there's is a steady thumping in her ear like a heartbeat that is not her own._

Confused and a little overheated, trapped under a tangle of someone else's limbs, Rey opened her eyes to stare at a high ceiling above her she did not recognise. Lying on her back, her neck supported by his left arm, her right ear was pressed against Ben's bare chest. His steady, thundering heartbeat reassured her he was still alive.

And he was holding her. Lying on his side, his right arm thrown over her body and his hand resting loosely on her hip, his right knee pressing her own against the bed, locking her in place. She breathed in deeply, and was accosted by the clean smell of soap and _Ben,_ and suddenly remembered.

She had woken briefly alone in his bed, and immediately panicked that he was gone. Half dressed, hair still damp from the 'fresher, Ben had been at her side immediately. No words were needed, he had simply folded her into his arms, and laid down with her. Stroking her hair gently, she had fallen asleep again quickly.

Ben must have slept too, but now she heard a change in the rhythm of his heart and the chin tucked into her hair lifted slightly.

"Hi," Rey breathed.

The hand on her hip squeezed gently for a moment, and the knee pinning her to the bed relaxed. Rey rolled on to her side to see him better. His brown eyes were large, boring directly in to hers, and Rey could see tiny flecks of gold. She smiled up at him, reaching over to trace the fingers of her left hand along the place where his scar had been only a short while ago. Rey felt she could lay there forever, just absorbing him, but the galaxy wouldn't stop for them.

"What happens now," Rey asked him finally.

Ben sighed, and rolled on to his back. Worried, Rey began to babble.

"I should have stayed with you before... I wanted to. I will now. I wont leave you alone..."

Ben huffed in surprise. He had expected her to ask him to return home. Wherever that was.

"I can't rule the galaxy with you," her voice was small, "but I _can_ stay with you."

"I don't want you to join me," Ben interrupted, and he felt her distress through their bond.

She was crying now, small sobs that racked her chest, and suddenly Rey found Ben looming over her, a knee on each side of her thighs, an arm on each side of her body so that he was holding most of his weight off of her. Ben waited for her to look at him, and when she finally did Ben dipped his head to kiss a tear from each cheek. 

Rey sniffled as he lifted his head again, and Ben found she was staring at him, her expression a mixture of confusion and hope. 

"Scavenger," Ben laughed, "I am going to join _you_. _My_ destiny is at _your_ side."

A fresh wave of tears followed as Rey wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down to kiss her again. The Force hummed between them, as if to agree that their destiny was to be together.

*****

Hux hadn't been able to fire on the Resistance vessels, although not for lack of desire to do so. Ren had specifically forbidden it, ordering their troops to focus on the Kendoh gang, and worry about the other criminals later. He marched back and forth along the main bridge deck, ignoring the staff in the pits, brooding on his thoughts. Parnadee leaned against the transparisteel of one viewing window and just watched him.

Hux had learned over the past half year of Ren's reign as Supreme Leader that his disobedience towards Ren would result in a choking. And the other members of the Supreme Council voiced no objection, so Hux wasn't left with much to successfully argue with.

As he stalked back towards Parnadee, Hux's frustration reached boiling point and he finally spoke.

"We shouldn't even _be_ here," the ginger man spat. "This is the flag ship, the Supreme Council and the Supreme Leader are aboard, and we are _alone_ out here."

"The Supreme Leader has already told you we do not need to call in another vessel. If it takes half the fleet to squash a bug, how weak do you think we would appear? Anyway, as he's already told you the Steadfast is the only cruiser within reach. _Do you want Pryde here?_ "

No. Definitely not. Pryde, and their trip to the unknown regions with his father when he was just a child, was his past. A past he didn't want to relive with Pryde.

This situation, however, could have been avoided if Ren had not been so impulsive. Or so impatient.

"Nonetheless Parnadee, we shouldn't have come here alone. The Supreme Leader needs to remember he's just that - our _leader_ and not some warlord anymore. His personal vendetta against the Kendoh gang should not have involved this vessel."

Hux knew he was right. Ren had come here for the gang, and when it had become apparent the Resistance had a presence here Ren initially seemed completely disinterested It was as if they were not even worth the effort. That had changed when they intercepted message between the skulking Mon Calamari vessel and the planet's surface, and Ren heard that voice. _Dameron_. Hux recalled his own humiliating exchange with Dameron above D'Qar, but the flash in the Supreme Leader's eyes had made Hux wonder what personal insult Dameron had delivered to Ren to cause it. Hux had to retreat back a step, worried there might be another _outburst_ involving extensive First Order property damage.

Instead, Ren had taken a division of his own Stormtroopers and headed down to the planet to meet with the 709th legion.

The empty handed return of the Supreme Leader, and his outburst in the hangar, told Hux things had _not_ gone as planned. The brooding hulk had retired to his quarters and refused to be reached - and if Ren wouldn't participate in his own regime then Hux had every intention of taking control. He just had to get enough of the Council members onside to pull off a successful coup.

Hux was still scowling at Parnadee when a strange rumbling began from deep below. It gained intensity, and then a series of consoles in the data pits below overload, crackling with electricity. He could only stare with his mouth open as a groan shuddered through the ship, and it's orbit around the planet began to change.

*****

Kissing Ben Solo, Rey thought distantly, was a thoroughly enjoyable activity. And a very distracting one, if the short circuit in her brain had anything to say about it. At this point he had somehow ended up with his knees between hers on the bed, his lower half laying on the bed and his thighs pinning her down. There was a warm, firm pressure on one hip that Rey tried not to think about, and his busy lips and tongue were a more than adequate distraction.

Rey's heart was pounding and there was a warmth spreading through her body as Ben devoured her mouth. There was a ringing in her ears that seemed to drown out the groan from Ben as she grabbed at his neck and the back of his head as if trying to pull him into her very being. 

There was a ringing in her ears, and a shudder that ran through her body.

A ringing.....

Ben stopped kissing her at the same moment she realised that wasn't a ringing, but an alarm, and the shudder was through the entire ship.

Ben pulled himself away from her, climbing out of the bed to look out to the space beyond. " _Kriff._ "

From the large transparisteel viewport that took up the wall directly across from the bed, Rey could see the stars around them move. 

_Not the stars_ , she realised. _The ship._

Ben rifled through a chest of drawers built into the wall, pulling out a few items then quickly moved into the robe. Rey sat up and watched him for a moment, still slightly confused, before her brained snapped back in to action and she rolled out off the bed to find her boots. She was snapping the last button in to place as Ben emerged from the robe, and Rey was suddenly transported back almost a year in time. For a brief second Rey could have sworn she was on Starkiller Base, shackled to the interrogation table, looking at the lonely boy under the mask of Kylo Ren. She had to remind herself his hair was longer, and his eyes didn't have that same haunted expression.

"Fastest way off this ship is if they think I'm still in charge," Ben answered her unspoken question. "Protocol means we're about to be joined by a squad of Stormtroopers and any of the Knights still aboard. Grab your cloak, but leave the mask."

He looked past her, unseeing for a moment. "Vicrul and Trudgen will be with us shortly."

Ben grabbed her saber and offered it to her. She clipped it to the back of her hip in it's usual position, and then allowed him to guide her, one hand at the small of her back. When they reached the room Rey had found him injured in, Rey noted the twisted mask of Vader was in pieces on the floor. She shuddered at the mask, one of the sources of Ben's torment, but Ben didn't even look at it. He picked up her cloak, helping her into it and ensuring her face was well hidden by the hood. Almost as an afterthought, he picked up his crossguard saber hilt and clipped it to his own belt.

"It's best if we meet them at the door," Ben told her, "there's bound to be questions about you anyway but if they see this mess...."

She his wrist and gave it a brief squeeze. "Wait.. your scar."

Ben pulled up the hood of his cloak, and Rey reached up and pulled at his hair to cover his right eye and cheek. Thank goodness he had allowed it to grow long. With the lock of hair hanging over his cheek, and the shadow cast by his hood, hopefully nobody would notice.

His long stride meant that a brisk walk for him was almost a jog for Rey, but they were at the door quickly. Ben placed one finger to his lips in warning before responding to the insistent rapping on the door to his quarters. The door slid open to two of the Knights of Ren, one unmasked, and slightly further back stood the promised squad of troopers at attention.

"What is going on?", Ben demanded.

Rey swallowed, hearing Kylo Ren. The masked Knight, _Trudgen_ , Rey thought spoke.

"Lord Ren, a saboteur has crippled the ship. Orbit has become unstable and.."

"How?"

"They placed charges in the engine room. Not only have the engines been damaged, but main power has been affected."

"I'll ask again," Ben's voice was the soft, dangerous voice of Kylo. " _How?_ "

Trudgeon seemed to reach an understanding of the question.

"I don't know who, if they came aboard today or have been here for some time Lord Ren. But as to how they got in to the Engine room, it seems that they managed to access a computer terminal and decrease the oxygen content in that entire section."

"How many?"

The unmasked Knight, Vicrul, was a human with yellowed skin, an ugly scar in his left cheek and a tight fitting hood that covered his hair, chin and neck. He finally spoke up.

"There were over 70 men and women on duty. They were deprived of oxygen for at least ten minutes."

Rey sucked in a breath before she could stop herself, but it did not seem that she drew the Knights attention.

 _So many_ , Rey spoke through the bond.

_This ship has a complement of over 82,000. And it's falling out of orbit._

The Commander of the squad of troopers approached. "Sir? We need to get you to one of the escape shuttles."

Ben waved a dismissive hand towards the troopers, but Rey felt the subtle whisper of the Force.

"Never mind that. Head back to your staging point and help with the evacuation."

The Commander saluted sharply, and the Knights watched incredulously as they marched to the turbolifts.

"We're going to the Bridge," Ben ordered sharply, then looked back at Rey. "My new apprentice will go with us."

*****

The bridge was in chaos. The emergency alarm was till blaring, but someone had been able to reduce the volume in here and Ben was grateful for the ability to think again as he scanned the room,

Hux was screaming orders at some of the bridge officers, but Ben ignored him for the moment. Parnadee lay on the floor at one end, but he could see she was moving and attended by one of the junior officers who had a medpack open. Domaric Quin, a gaunt faced human with balding dark hair and a perpetually dour expression was also on the bridge, Ben noted. Unlike the frantic Hux he seemed to be composed as he argued with a pair of senior deck officers. He lifted his head to note the arrival of his Supreme Leader, and waved off the deck officers to stride towards Ben.

"Supreme Leader," Quinn acknowledged him.

"General Quinn," Ben replied coolly. "Report?"

"Hyperdrives are offline, minimal sublight engines, thrusters are still online but not enough to re-establish orbit. The timing suggests it was the Resistance, they retreated to their vessel almost immediately."

"How long?"

Quinn rubbed his face. "We've called for the Steadfast to come to our aid, but they wont get here in time. They will be at least half a standard cycle, probably more. It's probably an hour at most before orbit becomes so unstable we can't stop it. After that.. a vessel of this size will survive re-entry largely intact, even if shields are down, but the impact will be significant."

Ben turned to Vicrul and Trudgen. "Get all the Council members to a transport, and any senior officers you can round up to fill the vessel. Remain with them for their protection, and await the Steadfast."

"You need to come with us," Quinn said urgently, "you are the Supreme Leader."

"I'll stay here as long as I can, I'll take my TIE when we've tried everything."

Quinn found himself herded towards the door, along with Hux. Parnadee was in no condition to argue, supported by a pair of senior officers as she limped after the others.

Ben dropped down into the nearest data pit, terrifying the officers within who lived in fear of Kylo Ren's legendary temper. Rey thought the unfortunate young man that Ben clapped a hand on at the shoulder was about to die of his obvious fright, but he visibly relaxed as Ben spoke quietly and calmly to him. The cracked viewscreen at the officer's station came to life easily enough, and Ben was quickly shown through a series of images of the ship. From her position Rey could see an alarming amount of red highlights, indicating the wide scale of the disaster. It wasn't long before Ben had one hand on the railing of the short narrow steps and was climbing them two at a time back to the elevated deck.

He coughed loudly, drawing the attention of all present. "The Finalizer is crippled. Give the evacuation signal, and all of you get to your transports."

There was a moment of silence, and then the bridge was rapidly and calmly empitied as Ben and Rey stood to one side watching. The officer who had taken Ben through the damage report was the last to leave, staring at Ben nervously, and Rey was surprised at how young he looked. Perhaps even younger than she had been when she left Jakku with Finn. He had kind blue eyes and sandy blonde hair, and for a moment she thought he might speak.

Ben shook his head at him. "Go."

The young man nodded gratefully, and then Ben and Rey were alone.

*****

Finn, still in his Stormtrooper uniform and helmet back in place, watched for signs of Rey or Ren. Whilst it was true that this was not the only hangar, Finn felt his chances of seeing one or both were better than even here as Ren's TIE fighters and his command shuttle were here. But as far as he could see they remained closed, no one preparing them, and Finn slowly found himself pulled along with the crowd towards the escape transports. Eventually it was his turn to board, and unless he wanted to draw unnecessary attention to himself he had no choice but to leave the Finalizer. His transport vessel pulled away from the hangar, and shot towards the planet below.

*****

Alone on the Bridge, Ben and Rey tossed back the hoods of their cloaks and gave each other a long look. He strode to a console on the rear wall, the only wall not covered with viewports, and brought up the engine controls. Rey quickly joined him, assessing the damage for herself, but after a few minutes she stood back and hummed to herself.

"What is it" Ben asked, curious. "What do you see?"

"There's not enough power left in the engines to get enough thrust to do anything effective. But the hyperdrive isn't actually offline. It can't power a jump of any significant distance... but I think if we time it carefully and the calculations are precise... we can make a single burst deeper in to the system."

It sounded crazy, but Rey seemed to think it was a viable idea.

"I can do it Ben," Rey said confidently. "I'm sure of it."

He nodded. And if it didn't work, well his promise to follow her the rest of his life would be easy to keep if it was only another hour or two.

Rey began searching the computer for the current position of all the planets in the system, and deriving a set of coordinates. Ben watched her, fascinated by the expression on her face and the rapid working of her mind that he could just sense through their bond. She had a quick, intelligent mind and Ben wondered at what she could have become if she's had the advantage of a formal education. It seemed there was very little she attempted that she couldn't achieve.

"I can hear you thinking Ben," Rey smiled at him. "Check how the evacuation is going for me?"

He powered up another viewscreen a few feet away, and rapidly scanned the data.

"Only a quarter of the crew have been even reached a hangar so far. Even with multiple hangars and evac points, it's a big ship."

Rey nodded, tapping two points on the map infront of her. She bit her lip, frowning as she examined the plotted course. It was narrow, not much room for error, and this was the biggest ship she'd ever have to steer. But without directional thrusters to better position for a jump point, Rey had no choice.

_There's over 80,000 lives on this ship. That's a lot of people I might be failing._

Any vessels trying to depart when Rey sent them in to light speed were in for a bumpy ride at best, more likely torn apart by the forces involved, but with a short jump of only a few seconds Rey hoped nobody would be trying to leave the Finalizer in that moment.

"Co-ordinates are set," Rey announced, hand hovering over the keypad below.

_Not yet. Not yet._

Ben could feel her reaching out, listening to the Force. Tentatively he pulled off one of his gloves, brushing his fingers over the back of one of her hands. Rey grabbed his hand tightly, and Ben felt their connection suddenly open wider than ever before, the Force pulsing around them stronger than he had ever felt it. The sudden power between them was more than the addition of each of them, rather it felt as if it was multiplied over and over, and perhaps even infinite. It was at that very moment that Rey knew it was time, and she slammed her finger down on the keyboard.

For a brief moment there was a flash of white light and Ben had the impression of a hyperspace lightfield passing them by, before the ship gave another frightening groan and the view behind them was a regular starscape.

It was small thing, almost like a breathy whisper, that alerted him. A myriad of senses had been accosting them, but suddenly the Force narrowed them all down to a single sound in Ben's ears. An electronic hum, a static that seemed to be growing dangerously. There was no time to say anything to Rey, rather he inserted himself between her and the console in front of them, wrapping his arms around her protectively. The weight of his body threw them towards the floor, and he tried to throw up a shield using the Force as the wall behind them exploded.

*****

_She thinks she is seven years old now. Counting all the days since her parents left her with Plutt, it's been 824. Plutt is taking her to the Graveyard of Giants, with the other child slaves he owns, to scavenge a ship. If she brings him back something useful, he promised, he wont sell her again._

_She's made him nervous. She's made the other children nervous too, and they called her "strange girl". Not a particularly clever insult, but hurtful all the same._

_When they reach a trio of ships jutting out of the sand, she has one of those feelings again. The bad ones, that tell her things are about to go wrong, but she bites her lip and says nothing. Plutt wont like it if she scares the others, and she needs to impress him if she wants to avoid a new owner._

_Besides, if she gets in and out quickly with something valuable, there won't be time for anything bad to happen, right?_

_Now she is climbing, mostly on hands and knees, with the occasional grab hold on to something to help haul her up. She's climbing on what would have been the ceiling of a target control room, and she can sense there's something very valuable here. Nobody has ever tried to get it before, probably never even looked for it because the way this ship was embeded in the sand the floor is now the ceiling and the ceiling the floor._

_She somehow knows when she is high enough, and lays on her back against the smooth ceiling. It's there, about two of her body lengths away on the wall that meets the ceiling off to her right. It's too far away for her to reach it if she stands, but there has to be a way to reach it. She closes her eyes and thinks for a moment, and reaches inwards to talk to The Voice._

**_How do I get to something I can't reach?_ **

**_Can you climb?_ **

**_No. There's no hand holds low down._ **

**_Is there a hand hold or a ledge a bit higher, just out of reach?_ **

_She peers at the wall, noticing a few knobs and data input console she could probably rest a small foot on._

**_I think so, yes. But it's to high for my arms to reach._ **

**_Well then, you'll just have to jump wont you?_ **

_She smiles, and shuffles her feet until she can get a firm purchase on her ceiling/floor, and then crouches. Like a coiled spring her legs straighten up and she makes a smooth, impossible leap. Her fingers grasp one of the knobs on the wall, and one foot rests solidly on the data input console that juts out slightly._

**_I did it!_ **

_But The Voice is silent, as if it has gone to sleep. She shrugs, and runs her fingers along the panel of the wall until she finds the right spot, and it opens a small, square opening about a half meter in each dimension, the panel dropping below her with a clang. It's dusty, or rather fine grands of sand that could be called dust, and she coughs a little She almost loses her purchase on the wall but she steadies herself and reaches in to remove a large tubular component, clear crystals jutting out or each end. It's a little stiff, and she had to tug it, but her grip on the wall and the component are firm and the sudden release isn't what unbalances her but the eddy of dust that the movement stirs up._

_The coughing as the dust hits her lungs is beyond her control, and her chest burns as she tried to inhale a clean breath only to be hit by more dust. She doesn't realise when she lets go of the wall, doesn't call out or try to protect herself, and then she lands heavily on the ceiling/floor._

_Her vision is blurry, and her head swims. She's rolling her eyes and her there's a wet warmth at the back of her head. The Voice is talking to her again, with an element of panic to it._

**_Can you hear me? Answer me? Can you hear me?_ **

_Everything becomes dark._

"Can you hear me? Answer me please Rey? Rey?"

Rey opened her eyes to look at the source of the voice that was muted like it was underwater, and it was like a long forgotten distant memory and something newer and more familiar blended together. Her vision was blurred, and the face was not immediately clear, but after a moment she realised the worried voice belonged to the face above her, and the face was Ben's.

Ben was kneeling next to her, and he slowly supported her to sit up with her back into his chest, giving her a moment to orient herself. Somehow, he had protected them both from the worst of the explosion, although there was a faint smell of burnt hair and the ends of his cloak were tattered. Considering the melted and twisted wall, the scorched ceiling and the glass from exploding light fitting that littered the floor, he'd done a good job.

But oh, did her head ache, and she kept blinking her eyes to try and clear herself of the odd dream she'd just had.

He craned his head over hers to look at her eyes, easy enough with his height and her head slumped back into his shoulder. Ben didn't like the glassy look, but otherwise she seemed to be seeing him and taking in what was around her.

"Are you okay." The fingers of his ungloved hand are exploring her hair, looking for injuries.

She wriggled her toes, her fingers, flexed her neck, and then using her hands pushed herself further back and up against Ben's chest. 

"Huh," was the only answer that she could give him immediately, but he was reassured by the movement.

He kept an arm around her waist as he clambered to his feet, pulling her up with him. Gravity from the hull plating seemed to want to pull her back to the floor, but with the steady support of Ben Rey was able to slowly limp towards the exit.

"I think the navigation system overloaded," Rey said drily. "Where are we going?"

Her voice was very faintly slurred, and Ben had the impression she was concussed, but otherwise seemed to be aware of what was going on around her.

"Main hangar. We'll take one of my TIEs to the surface of Batuu, and go from there."

Her steps improved as they continued to the turbolifts, but Rey was still dizzy and leaning against him. He pulled the hood of her cloak up to help hide her face again, similarly doing the same himself, before the lift doors opened to take them to the bowels of the ship.


	9. Goodbye My Friends

Really, Ben reflected, there's a reason people don't take the lifts when there are ship wide disasters. It should have been expected that they wouldn't have made it more than a few floors before the power failed. They were in darkness for a few moments, before they were dimly illuminated by a pair of wan yellow security lights, one in the ceiling above the door, the other on the floor towards the back of the lift.

"Well," Rey chuckled nervously, "I suppose this is better than the last time we were in a lift together."

He was brought back to that day immediately. Her disappointed face when he'd allowed the Stormtroopers to place binders on her, yet the hope and belief in him she had shown as they talked in _that_ lift. How he had fought an urge to kiss her then; would things have worked out differently if he had?

But it was pointless to wonder. She was here now, and they were leaving together, and that was all that should matter to him. Or a least they would leave.... if they weren't stuck in a kriffing lift

Ben appraised Rey, who still leaned against him to support some of her weight, and dismissed the idea of forcing the doors to climb out, let alone the thousands of steps down one of the stairwells. Instead, Ben pressed gently on Rey's shoulders until she sat down, her back against the far wall. 

"We're stuck aren't we," Rey muttered, resting her skull against the wall.

"Not for long," Ben promised, "but we might as well let you rest for a moment."

He sat down on his heels next to her, getting her to lean forward a little so he could pull back the hood of her cloak and examine the back of her head. Gently, Ben probed her scalp with his fingers, eliciting a sharp _oww_ from Rey when his forefinger found a large egg-like swelling. At least the bone underneath felt alright, but Ben felt a sharp stab of anger at himself.

"Sorry sweetheart. I was so busy worrying about that console I didn't think to protect your head."

She noticed the guilty look in his eyes and Rey rolled her eyes at him.

"You saved me," she protested, "a little concussion is better than what could have happened if you didn't protect me."

Rey reached up with her right had to cup his cheek, and he leaned against it, his eyes intensely focussed on hers. She smiled, and moved her hand to the back of his neck to pull him towards her. The next moment he found his lips locked on hers again, gentle at first then with a frustrated hunger. It felt like both a thousand years and only a few seconds before they pulled apart, each panting slightly. 

Rey gave him a regretful grin. "I don't think a 'lift is the right place for where that's going."

Ben groaned, but nodded agreement. He quickly brushed his lips against her temple.

"On that note, time to go," he whispered, grinning as he stood up.

He closed his eyes, reaching out.....

The lift dropped suddenly and Rey shrieked in surprise. But when she felt their fall slowing, Rey dared to peek up at Ben. He loomed above her, closed eyes and calm expression belying his intense focus on the Force. Despite the still rapid drop, Rey could feel Ben's effort, the slowing fall, and she felt her rapidly beating heart slowing in response. When the lift reached the bottom it was with barely a jolt. Ben opened his eyes and looked down at her with a smile, before offering her his hand to help her up. 

They adjusted the hoods of their respect cloaks again before the door slide open with barely a nudge from the Force, but the lift had not _quite_ reached the bottom. As they went to step out the final six inches of the lift dropped and they both almost fell out of the lift.

*****

Drifting in space not far from the Finalizer, Dopheld Mitaka was sitting in the cockpit of the Supreme Leader's Command Shuttle. Apart from Pryde, who had yet to arrive with the Steadfast, the entire Supreme Council was aboard. Mitaka had, as Ren had requested, taken them for their safekeeping.

It was really a pity, however, that they had to take Hux with them. Armitage Hux was an insufferable whiner at the best of times, Mitaka Dopheld decided. Now... now he wanted nothing more than to personally blow the ginger bastard out an airlock. He would not stop protesting his removal from the Finalizer, his _right_ to lead the First Order to glory...

He wasn't surprised when Quinn grabbed a blaster rifle from one of the stormtroopers guarding the Supreme Council and slammed the butt of it into the back of Hux's skull.

"That should shut him up for bit," Parnadee noted.

"Pity it's not permanently," Quinn observed, looking up from his seat in the passenger compartment to briefly nod to Mitaka.

It was the signal to move to the next phase. The door separating the cockpit from the passenger cabin slammed closed, and gas began to fill the room. The entirety of the Council, bar the already inconcious Hux, began to cough and splutter, gasping for breath.

"Head to the rendezvous point," Mitaka ordered the pilot. 

*****

Unlike the standard TIE fighters which were brought to hangars from storage racks within the ship, the personal TIEs of the Supreme Leader were docked in the main hangar along with his command shuttle. It was also a far more convenient location, given the main hanger was not far from the turbolifts that ran the entire height of the ship up into the bridge tower. 

Ben was never so grateful for the proximity of the hangar to the bridge tower lifts, given the need to hide both of their faces as well as Rey's head injury. Unfortunately, Ben also knew the hangar was likely to be full of ship's personnel. The majority of the escape craft actually left from other hangars or special bays on the ship, but the main hangar held a number of shuttlecraft that the senior staff would be using in their evacuation. His personal craft, which included a few prototype and modified TIEs as well as his command shuttle, were usually docked in the starboard stern corner of the hangar. Of the group, the command shuttle would have been the most practical with Rey's injury, but Mitaka had followed Ben's instructions and already taken it to transport the members of the Supreme Council who had been aboard. 

The vessel Ben wanted was right at the back of the group, a TIE/vn "Silencer" that had been further modified to his own specifications. It was the only one suitable for two people, but it was also equipped with a special emitter that he had designed himself to confuse the sensors of other ships and afford some basic stealth features. Sienar-Jaemus Fleet Systems were interested in applying it to their next protypes, but Ben would never get to test them now.

The entrance for this area of the hangar was through a small storage room the had been repurposed as a staging area for the Supreme Leader's personal fleet, and when they reached it they found the room dark and empty save for a few crates. Using both his eyes and the Force, Ben peered around the edge of the doorway to assess their route to the TIE.

Their corner of the hangar was quiet, few having the skill necessary to pilot such advanced fighters, not the requisite access codes to unlock them. Only a couple of stormtroopers stood guard, no senior staff or the Knights, and Ben felt confident they would be able to board unquestioned - after all, the First Order still thought he was their Supreme Leader. He turned to the woman at his side, and squeezed one of her hands.

"Okay," Ben said firmly but in a soft voice, "we're going to walk straight out to my ship, act like we belong, and board. No-one would dare to question me, unless we give them a reason."

Rey squeezed his hand back in return, but said nothing. Her head was pounding painfully, and the light from the hanger bleeding around the doorway wasn't helping, but she was confident she could manage this simple task. 

_Okay._ Ben nodded to her unspoken reply, and then let go of her hand. He stood slightly behind her left shoulder, and guiding her with his right hand on the small of her back, they stepped out confidently into the hangar.

*****

"I'm telling you Dameron, he's not the murderous snake you make him out to be!"

The blue tips of Vi Morandi's wig bounced as she yelled at Poe, her hands on her hips and a look of frustration in her eyes as she realised she was arguing against a resistance captain in defence of the Supreme Leader of the First Order of all people.

"From where I was standing, Starling, he was ready to cut my damned head off with his light saber!"

"Well from where _I_ was standing, he saved my life and then let me go!"

Rose leaned back in her seat at the Falcon's Dejarik table, watching the two fight with one eye and the other on the disturbed countenance of Leia Organa. The General had a look that seemed half hopeful, half defeated. with just a dash of irritated every time Poe spoke. Rose sighed, realising that since Finn had yet to rejoin them it was her turn to try to douse Poe's bloodthirst for Kylo Ren.

"Tell me then Poe, if Kylo Ren wanted your head _why exactly is it still on your neck_?"

Leia snorted.

"Rey...." Poe blurted, and both Rose and Leia raised their eyebrows at him.

"Rey intervened," Poe explained, "That ship she stole came up over the ridge and almost knocked both of us over. Gave me time to escape."

But Leia suspected Ben had found something more interesting to hunt than Poe Dameron. So why, if Rey had arrived, did he rescue Vi of all things and then leave the surface without Rey? And why had she felt such a terrible feeling in the Force, then sudden light? It was centred around Ben, she knew it, but the long decades of their separation had weakened her bond with him and she did not have the strength to reach him now. She had not felt Rey's arrival on the battlefield, although granted the girl was an enigma to her at this stage and may well be able to hide herself.

"Tell me more about it Vi," Leia demanded, a quick frown at Poe to warn him to keep silent.

"He cut down two First Order Officers, and told me to run," Vi sighed. "It was the strangest thing. He was staring at a local girl, who was protecting me. Like he knew her, somehow."

Leia nodded, and she had a brief flash of the scene from Morandi's mind. _Rey,_ thought Leia, although the girl was clearly not their absent Jedi. Still, her resemblance was close enough that Ben would have seen the shadow of Rey in her.

"One of the intelligence operatives struck her, and she lost her balance. She tumbled over the railing and fell. He.. he ran to her and you could tell she was dead. It enraged him... he just _flew_ in the air to the railing next to me. But instead of killing me, he stood between the First Order and me.... and then he _killed_ his own men. He said she didn't deserve that, and he would let me go to honour her."

Leia rubbed her temples and sighed as she pulled herself to her feet.

_Oh my stars... what are they to each other?_

"He's damned insane," Poe finally felt free to speak again. "Unstable and running the First Order! General, we need to..."

Leia waved him off with a huff, and Poe wisely shut his mouth. She made a similar wave the Vi and Rose, a pained expression on her face, before she slowly limped towards the cockpit to sit with Chewie.

A light started blinking on the band at Poe's wrist.

"Finn," breathed Rose.

*****

"Two seats," Rey muttered, confused, as they climbed into the Silencer.

She frowned at Ben, who was gently pushing her down into the seat on the back wall of the TIE. It was little more than a small bench, but had a sturdy harness attached to the wall. She knew a little about the design of the vessel, from some stolen data the Resistance had acquired just before she left them, and she couldn't recall the prototypes having a second seat. It was quite a snug fit, so clearly this wasn't in the origin design.

"I made a few personal modifications," Ben explained. "When I was still hunting for you.... I realised if I was going to capture you I might need some way of safely bringing you back with me."

Rey smiled. "I thought you wanted to kill me?"

"Sometimes I thought about it," Ben replied drily, "But I don't think I ever really wanted that. I just wanted to find you.... I was hurt and angry but really I think I just wanted ask why."

"Why what?"

"Why you rejected me. Why you didn't... why you didn't feel it too?"

But Rey had felt it, she simply couldn't follow that path. And when she had awoken first.... after ultimately leaving him unharmed she had fled in guilt.

"I'm sorry Ben." But he held up one finger to her lips.

"It's okay Rey.... I guess I understood after a while. Anyway, it's behind us now."

He kissed her forehead gently, then climbed into his own seat.

Ben didn't look back at the Finalizer as the Silencer lifted up from the hanger floor and screamed away from the ship.

*****

Once the Finalizer had made it's lightspeed jump there was nowhere else for the transport he was on to go, landing back on the surface of Batuu - something for which Finn was incredibly grateful given it would simplify his rescue by the resistance. The transport landed to the north of the outpost, and an orderly disembarkment began to occur.

The position they had landed didn't really afford Finn many chances to slip away, however he made sure he was at the back of the troopers and as the squad marched into the outpost it was a fairly simple thing to slip away into an alley. He pulled off his armour, finding a small gap between two buildings where he was able to discard the stormtrooper garb, and breathed a sigh of relief. As Finn slipped back out of the alley into the crowd, he activated his beacon and headed to the rendezvous point near the petrified tree for which the Outpost was name, a broken black spire near Savi's workshop.

He wasn't waiting long before the smiling face of Poe Dameron could be seen heading through the crowd towards him. And none too soon, because the First Order presence was only growing in the Outpost.

*****

Ben had been tempted to take Rey and run for the wild reaches, somewhere nobody would ever find them. But he was following her, not the other way around, and he knew she was headed back to Jakku. 

So he was surprised when Rey told him they needed to go to Batuu first.

"I need to get my X-Wing."

Through their bond, Rey could feel the unspoken protest. He didn't think it was safe to head down there, or for them to separate.

"If nothing else," she explained simply, "I need something from it."

The short trip to Batuu, at sublight speed, took less than an hour in the TIE. The silence between them was heavy with unspoken things, memories, regrets, wishes... a confusion of feelings and needs. Neither was entirely sure of the other or what to do next - Rey had thrilled in the touches and the kisses they had shared on the Finalizer, but the emotions involved were overwhelming and frightening at times. Starved for affection and wary of dependence on another person her whole life, the possibility of being vulnerable to another person only to be abandoned again was terrifying to her. Likewise, Rey imagined, Ben had already been stung once by her apparent rejection, with a similar life story of rejection and abandonment.

But despite the heavy thoughts of both, accompanied with a heavy head on Rey's part, there was an undeniable sense of _rightness_ that they were together. Though not close enough to touch, the energy of each other's Force signature seemed to tangle with that of the other. Not as strong as when he had held her in his arms as they slept or kissed, but intertwined nonetheless and drawing strength and purpose from the other. No matter what followed, it was obvious to the other that were meant to be together. Their bond, that allowed them to see, speak and even touch one another even when on opposite sides of the galaxy, seemed to grow stronger the longer they were close to each other. Subconsciously both knew what it meant - they were the one another's missing half.

Eventually the Silencer approached the planet, and Ben threw a few switches overhead as he slowed his approach to a near crawl.

"Sort of stealth tech," Ben explained over his shoulder. "This is a fairly recognisable ship but hopefully we can confuse their sensors long enough to sneak in... although anyone in the Order or the Resistance that gets a look at it will know it's mine."

The Silencer dropped through the atmosphere as if slowly sinking to the bottom of a pool of water. Rey didn't have the best view from her position, but from the display panel that showed their flight path and location she could see that Ben was going to take a low ground approach towards the outpost to further hide their presence.

"It's a couple miles due west of the outpost," Rey directed, "in a grove of trees. Water... I think the term would be a.... pond. Not far from a cliff."

Ben nodded, and checked the viewscreen showing a scan of the land ahead. He altered his trajectory slightly to approach a likely target, and Rey hummed approvingly when she recognised the spot - although it was more that she recognised how the area _felt_ rather than what she could see. Ben rose up over the low tree tops to find more than enough space for him to drop down next to the X wing.

*****

The were heading out of the Outpost at the east gate when Poe just happened to look to the south at _just_ the right moment. A dark black blot in the sky was dropping down, and the way it moved... Poe wasn't certain of what he was seeing, but if he was right it was an opportunity he simply couldn't miss.

"Kriff," Poe whispered to Finn, "I think we need to go back out of town from the west."

Finn shook his head in surprise. "Why?"

Poe pointed up to the dark blob in the sky... objectively it still wasn't clear _what_ it was, despite Poe's certainty. Finn closed his eyes for a moment and breathed deeply.

That instinct again, that he had been so sure of when he was on the Finalizer. He knew what it was, and more importantly,,, he's pretty sure _who_.

"Yeah. Yeah man. Poe we gotta go west."

The gate was too crowded with people fleeing the outpost to back through it, so they headed skirted along the perimeter until they reached the road headed west. Poe had a reasonable idea of where they were headed, but he pull the comm to his mouth and signalled Kaydell

"Black leader here. Can you do a sweep to the West looking for enemy vessels? Tell me any ships you see at all? I think I saw Ren's vessel off that way."

"Roger black leader,: Kyadel's voice cracked with interference, but it was clear enough. "Will run a high altitude sensors sweep and let you know. About 10-15 minutes."

"Come on man," Finn pulled on Poe's arm pratically dragging him to an eastward road. He could sense it... this way!

*****

As he helped Rey climb out of the Silencer, Ben noted her head felt clearer and her eyes had lost that distantly unfocussed appearance. When they were both standing side by side between the Silencer and the X-Wing, both stopped for a moment to appreciate their surroundings.

The air in the little grove was cool, and mirroring the other, they each took a deep breath. Both filled with the smell of dry leaves and damp earth, and the presence of the other both in the physical world and the Force.

Somehow her small hand had ended up in the hand he had offered her, and Ben swallowed thickly at the idea he could hold it for the rest of his life if she would let him. Something of his thoughts must have crossed their bond to Rey, because she smiled brightly at him and squeezed his hand gently.

 _I'm going to need it back from time to_ _time_.

Her objection was purely practical then. He squeezed her hand tighter, a possessive _mine_ flitting through his head, before he gently let go so that she could approach the X-Wing. She climbed up to the canopy that opened at her touch, and lifted up a small metal chest that she carefully passed to Ben, but remained on the ladder watching him. Curious, Ben opened the lid of the chest, to find it contained books. Very old books in fact, in ancient script that he vaguely recognised, and suddenly he gasped.

"I stole them from Luke," Rey laughed, eyes twinkling. "It's where I learned how to repair the broken kyber crystal... and got the idea of healing you."

Ben remembered Luke, before that night in the temple, talking about seeking out the first temple and the ancient knowledge of the Force. He'd seen partial copies of some of the books, but these seemed to be originals. He stroked the spine of one of them with a thick forefinger, the scholar in him marvelling at their beauty and longevity. Some of them, he knew, were over 10,000 years old. No wonder Rey had wanted to return for them.

Ben looked back up at her. "Your new skills...did you learn them all from these books?"

"No... not exactly. I found a new teacher..."

"Huh.." So there were still Force adepts in the galaxy. But the way she wouldn't look him in the eye warned him.

"Ben... I don't want to upset you... but my teacher is Anakin. I understand if.... if you don't want to come with me anymore"

He closed the chest, and placed it carefully on the ground next to the ladder Rey was currently clinging to. _Vader_. Only not Vader, because Anakin had turned away from the dark side, and Ben had been appealing for years to a persona that didn't exist. He nontheless found it hard to accept that the grandfather he had reached out to had never answered. It hurt, of course, to know that he wasn't enough for them. His mother, his father, his uncle... even his long dead grandfather had all forsaken him. They had embraced her though. If he didn't love her so much, he could surely have hated her for it. Ben's thoughts suddenly came to a complete standstill.

He _loved_ her.

It had always been there, but he hadn't really acknowledged it. He _wanted_ and _needed_ her, but he had been focussed on their link in the Force, the way she drove back his loneliness, and the darker hunger he had for her. He'd been driven crazy by the emptiness of his existence as the Supreme Leader, but some of that had also been despair at losing her.

But he hadn't really acknowledged the deeper truth of it. _Love_.

"I meant it when I said I will follow you," Ben affirmed. "You are _everything_ to me."

Rey blushed slowly, and Ben felt some of the blood from his brain rush southward.

"You are... everything to me too, Ben"

She smiled happily and reached into the ship again to pull out a small canvas bag before jumping down to join him.

"I thought you might want something to eat and drink". 

She opened the bag, and Ben saw a couple of ration bars and a few canisters of water.

"It's not a long journey to Jakku but I can't remember when I last had anything and...."

He smiled, and took the bag from her. Thinking for a moment, he walked a little away from her toward the pond, then unhooked the cloak he was wearing and spread it down on the ground. Ben looked back at her and patted the cloak, clearly inviting her to join him, before he sat down on one edge of it and spread their impromptu picnic out.

They had travelled less than a mile when the comm crackled to life and Kaydel reported the sweep's results.

"Black Leader this is Sparrow's Nest. There's two vessels partially secluded about 2000 metres due west. Its just off the road you are currently following, maybe another 500 metres south"

Poe and Finn eyed each other.

"What else Sparrow?" Finn asked.

There was a large whine of static that cut off the first few words."...X-wing. Highly modified TIE as well. We can't identify who the individuals in the area are, but given it looks like Rey's ship and the TIE... it's highly likely Rey and Ren." A chuckle, then a short pause. "I imagine she's probably going to carve him another scar. General wants you to leave it alone, but says you'll probably go in there anyway."

"She knows me so well. Radio silence from her on in, Sparrow's Nest. I'll contact you again after it's over. Black leader out."

It didn't take them log to jog along the road to the likely spot, a grove of trees visible from the edge of the road and the subtle signs of a trail than had been crossed by at least two people. Poe motioned Finn to follow behind him, and Poe was on high alert as the slowly walked through the long grass, trying hard to be as quiet as possible.

They huddled behind a thicker tree at the edge of the grove and Poe filled out a pair of viewfinders from he vest pocket and trained them on the clearing.

Some of his view was obscured by the X-wing which was closer to the edge of the trees than the modified TIE was, but it was clear there were two shadowed figures sitting. He increased the range on the view finders, and the Finn heard Poe swear.

"Is it them?" hissed Finn, as Poe gave a forced breath.

Poe didn't answer for a moment, eyes still locked on the two and their.... interaction.

"Yeah it's Ren and Rey," Poe eventually answered, a faint squeak in his voice.

"Are they fighting? We have to save her from him!" Finn started to push past Poe, but his friend pulled him back.

"Oh they're not fighting."

Finn snatched the viewfinders from Poe, and took a look for himself. After a moment, he passed them back to Poe, a faint choking sound to his own breathing.

Rey had found within a few minutes of sitting down, she had been ensconced between Bens thighs, back snuggled in to his chest and one of his arms wrapped around her middle as they ate. It had felt as if it was something normal, natural, and everyday, to be in such close contact. Rey supposed she should feel embarrassed, or nervous, or.... something anyway at how they had fallen in to such easy intimacy when neither were accustomed to be touched by other people. She had hugged Finn a few times, deriving some small comfort from it but also finding it a little uncomfortable, but had no qualms having some part of her in contact with Ben almost constantly.

Ben seemed to need the same. The arm around her waist that wouldn't let go. The chin that rested in her hair for a time only to slide down her neck so that he could rest his cheek on hers or press his lips quickly to her temple. Rey should feel nervous, or embarrassed... or _something_ like that to, to allow this. To _want_ this, with someone who had been her enemy. Instead, Rey realised, being together like this just seemed right. She loved him, perhaps even before they had met.... the belonging she had felt for so long, had that been Ben?

She twisted around, craning her neck to look up at him, only to find him smiling down at her.

"You know I can hear your thoughts, right?" he told her, before gently capturing her mouth with his and leaving her seeing stars

Rey buried her fingers in his hair, pulling him to her and his tongue became almost frantic as he explored her mouth. An ache began in her lower belly and Rey needed... _something. More._ Her fingers began to pull at the collar of his tunic, and at Ben's answering groan she redoubled her efforts to find the hidden hooks that closed his collar.

And then a moment of silence... the Force gave them barely enough notice, as a blaster shot flew towards them. Ben was on his feet, using the force to block the bolt and the next one that followed. Rey was a half second behind him, her saber lit, and swinging to deflect the next series of bolts. Ben flung the bolts he had been holding off over the pond, away from all parties, then froze in place the two figures he could sense firing on them.

Rey cocked her head and reached out, her mind encountering two somewhat familiar minds.

"Poe... _Finn,"_ Rey was indignant. "What are you doing?"

Poe trembled in ground his teeth at the invisible binding Ben held him with, as they were slowly dragged toward him with the Force.

"Dameron," Ben ground, then he looked at Finn. " _Traitor_."

"Finn," Rey corrected him softly, but her eyes were hard as she looked at both of the men. She made no move to get Ben to drop his hold on them.

"So.. not just a deserter but consorting with the enemy I see," Poe quipped to Rey.

Finn scowled at Poe, but the look he gave Rey was full of hurt and his words were reproachful.

"Don't tell me he's turned you to the darkside?"

"I think you'll find it's much the other way around, _Finn_ ," Ben snorted, resisting the temptation to choke the two men for endangering Rey.

The girl in question flung their blasters from their hands using the Force, before she patted to the two men down to look for additional weapons. Poe had a second blaster strapped to his ankle, Finn a sharp knife sheathed and slung to his belt. She threw them in the pond. The comm they had been using to reach Kaydel was also pulled from the inner pocket of Poe's jacket, and she tossed it to Ben. Both Finn and Poes eyes widened as he crushed it with a single large hand.

"If any of you come after her," Ben told them darkly, "you can expect to see my _dark side_. This is the _only_ warning you get on the matter."

He released them both suddenly, and Poe rolled his neck releasing his inner tensions.

"So we're gonna talk about this?" Poe nodded towards Rey, but his eyes were locked on Ben's.

"No. It's none of your business," Rey told him coldly, as she placed one small hand on Ben's elbow. "Let's go Ben."

Poe watched the Supreme Leader cover Rey's hand with his own, and nod almost imperceptibly.

"I'll be a minute. I need to speak with Dameron about something. Perhaps you want to say something to your.. friend?"

Poe watched Rey smile at him then, kriff she was _smiling_ like a thousand suns at _Kylo Reni_ of all people, and then she grabbed Finn by the elbow and pulled the equally shocked former stormtrooper aside. Poe watched them for a few moments, Rey smiling and occasionally touching Finn's hand to emphasis a point, before Poe returned his attention to _Kylo_ with a scowl.

"You've brainwashed her," Poe accused. "Instead of killing her you've decided to make her your pet. The last Jedi."

"No," Ben corrected him impassively. "But what would you understand of the Force? This is not a friendly chat Dameron, I need you to pass on a message to my... to General Organa."

"I wouldn't sully her ears with your words," Poe spat, but he was unable to get a rise out of the Supreme Leader.

"Do as you see fit," Ben shrugged, "but if you don't the Resistance is missing quite an opportunity."

Poe looked toward Finn and Rey in his peripheral vision, noting now the arms crossed under her breasts and the frown on her face, before turning back to the man he knew as Kylo Ren.

"Tell her two things Dameron," Ben continued. "First, tell her that Rey is safe and I'm going to keep her that way as long as Rey will let me. Second, tell her to get her ass to Takodana and see Maz Kanata. She has something for the General."

Since Kylo had destroyed her palace and kidnapped Rey last time he came to Takodana, Poe was surprised she'd give him the time of day. Although who was to say Maz was even aware of Kylo's plotting, and this was just some trick to capture Leia?

"No trick, Dameron". 

Of course the bastard could read his mind! Still, the General was no fool, and he grudgingly supposed he could give her the message and let the General could decide for herself.

"Anything else your Supreme Leadership-ness?"

Poe watched the man's eyes close for a second as he took a slow breath.

"Yeah, actually. Tell her one more thing. Tell her I don't think we will ever see each other again, but that I forgive her for what she did, and that I am sorry for everything _I_ did."

Poe's surprise at this cryptic statement was short lived by a cracking sound and both men were shocked to see Rey slapping Finn across the mouth.

"You were my first real friend," Rey told Finn as the stood under the nose of her X-wing. "You will always have a place in my heart. But I cannot join you."

"But you're a Jedi, the last of the Jedi," Fin protested. "It's your destiny to fight against the Dark Side and join us against the First Order."

"No. It's really not. My destiny is with Ben."

She reached out to pat him gently on the arm, smiling happily as her eyes darted past him to look at Ren, then sighing sadly as she looked back at Finn's angry face.

"Finn, it's what the Force wants. And it's what _I_ want"

Finn looked at her incredulously. "No. He's brainwashed you, he's taking you away from us to turn you to the dark side! Kylo Ren is a monster, he stands for the First Order and they stand for evil. Murder and conquer in the name of power and all they cause is death and suffering, to innocent people."

Rey crossed her arms and stared at him, suddenly _livid_ with him.

"Oh and you'd know all about that! Suffocating people to death as they worked their shift, dying simply because they were _there_. I _know_ it was you!"

Finn shook his head. "They were First Order. They shouldn't have joined them."

Rey shot an accusatory finger at him, shoving it against his sternum. "Seventy people Finn. _Seventy_. And you were First Order once! You know not everyone joins by choice. And even if they did, that's still no reason! Not to mention, when you blew up that part of the ship, you endangered the lives of everyone on board and the planet below too!"

He said nothing, just stared hard at her with his own accusations in his eyes.

"And because it was you, I can only believe you meant to cause so much damage. You would have known where to plant the charges to spare the rest of the ship. But you didn't just want that, to damage the engines so the Resistance couldn't be chased.. you wanted to _destroy_ the ship didn't you?"

"We could have stopped the war," Finn explained, "take out the flagship with Kylo Ren aboard..."

"Over _eighty thousand_ people live on that ship Finn! You would know, you used to be stationed on that very ship. Collateral damage in your quest to kill him." 

"Look at the billions of lives the First Order took when they fired on the Hosnian system? A small price to pay to punish Ren for his crimes!"

"That doesn't make what you did _right_. And Ben... he didn't fire on them. That was Snoke, and Hux!"

"He didn't stop them either," Finn whispered.

Rey slapped him then, hard, and looked to see Ben and Poe staring at them.

"You might be my friend Finn," Rey said softly, "but right now you disgust me."

She marched over towards Ben and Poe, and picked up the chest of books at the bottom of the ladder before climbing up and tossing them in the back of her cockpit, and then climbing into the front seat.

"I'm leaving with Ben now," Rey announced roughly. "If I see either of you again before I've had time to forgive you, I promise you I will make you _regret it_ "

 _Your ship is faster than mine_ , Rey thought across their bond, _go now and I'll meet you._

_Where?_

Rey thought for a moment. _In the desert, east of Niima Outpost, you'll find an AT-AT on it side. My old home._

She waited to see him safely ensconced in the Silencer, Finn and Poe already walking back towards the road, before they both lifted off and headed out of the atmosphere.


	10. The Destiny of Ben Solo

Someone had scavenged the scavenger's home, Ben realised. Dimly lit by the long rays of late afternoon sunlight, it was empty of all but a few small scraps of fabric, a fragment of leather, a broken cup and an old rebel helmet. 

He had recognised the place immediately, although it took him a moment to remember. He had briefly glimpsed it on Starkiller, when he had accessed her memories, but it was more than that. Ben Solo had dreamt of this place on occasion for years, from his days as a Padawan in the temple until he had first met Rey. The marks on the wall ever growing across those years, each dream seeing more of them. He could close his eyes and point to where each hard earned possession she had owned had laid - her small stove, the cot she slept in, even where she had hidden her water and emergency portions.

A vision, more a memory of one of his old dreams of her.

_She is only a child, perhaps seven years old, and the AT-AT is empty apart from a nest of blankets she has obviously slept in. She looks at the wall, deep in though, and scratches a mark in it with a sharp but broken tool._

_"Eight hundred and thirteen," she says to herself, as she continues on to carve another, and another. "I need to make one for every day since they left."_

Ben swallowed uncomfortably, disturbed by the idea of a child left so long, marking a wall so she wont forget. He could feel her through the Force now, her ship leaving hyperspace for the space above Jakku, and Ben decided to wait for her outside but almost tripped in the near empty vessel.

At his feet lay the helmet, and he picked it up to examine the Aurebesh letters with the owner's name and rank. He hissed, and dropped it as if the helmet were made of molten metal. _Raeh_. 

As Ben watched her X-Wing settle next to the Silencer, and his _Rey_ stepped down, he began to wonder what the name on the helmet might imply.

*****

He was awestruck by the base. The long, low approach along the ravine, until the approaching X-Wing triggered the hangar doors. Ben watched the very wall of the ravine slide open, where once there had been a sheer rock wall now there was a slowly opening entrance, which closed almost immediately after they had entered the hangar.

A hangar that, surprisingly, was filled with Imperial era TIEs and shuttlecraft. Ben brought his Silencer in to land next to Rey's X-Wing, and she was standing under the nose of her craft as she watched him climb out of his ship. 

There were others here - dressed partly in ragged old uniforms and partly in actual rags that served as cloaks. But they showed great deference towards Rey, one of them bowing deeply to her before pointing at the canopy of her craft.

"Yes eighty-four," Rey said softly, "you can unload for me. Thank you."

Eighty-four pointed at Ben, the question obvious.

"Oh! This is Ben," Rey introduced them. "Ben, this is eighty-four. Well, GRC-084 is his full designation, but he likes Eighty-four."

Eighty-four patted Rey's hand, then pointed at Ben again, and Ben could see the sudden flush of colour on her cheeks.

"Umm... yes. Yes, Ben is joining me... us, joining us."

Eighty-four nodded, then peered up at Ben. He pulled aside his cloak to show the blaster strapped to his hip, and pointed at Ben, then his blaster, then back at Ben

 _Right_ , thought Ben, _behave or he'll shoot me._

"The message might be better interpreted as _'hurt her_ and I'll shoot you'."

A young looking man, suffused with the same faint blue light his uncle's ghost had emitted, leaned against the nearby wall. His expression was one of sardonic amusement.

"They're all very protective of her for some reason," Anakin continued. "But enough for now. We've prepared some quarters for you, and Rey will show you to the residential floor. Proper introductions can happen tomorrow, but I can see my young Padawan needs rest."

Ben could only nod in response to his grandfather, for that was the only person this ghost _could_ be, and any questions could wait until he was sure Rey was settled. And she was undoubtedly tired, and still concussed despite her protestations otherwise.

Rey settled heavily on the back of a small four wheeled craft, one of Eighty-fours colleagues at the wheel. She patted the seat next to her, and he settled next to her.

"The base itself is several kilometres away, via an underground access tunnel. I would usually walk, but I'm exhausted."

She settled against his shoulder, and sleepily pointed out a few of the different craft in the hangar as they headed towards the dark tunnel. Once they entered the tunnel, she grew silent and was asleep on his shoulder within a minute. Ben kept one arm around her to stop her from falling at each jolt of the cart, and felt as if there was nowhere else he was supposed to be but here with her in his arms.

Ben was reluctant to wake her when they reached the base itself, but the driver had pulled the little cart up just inside the base and just stared at them. Ben had the clear impression the driver was waiting for them leave, so he gently shook the shoulder she hadn't pressed up against him. She opened her eyes and blinked a few times, before lifting her head off Ben as she realised where she was.

"Eighty-four will be bringing my things along shortly," Rey explained, "and I don't know where they have your quarters.... I suppose I should show you to mine and then we will work things out from there?"

Ben nodded, and Rey wrapped her small hand around his left elbow. She pointed in the direction of a dimly lit corridor, and shortly they found themselves at the turbolifts. Rey yawned as she pressed her palm to a small panel, and one of the lifts opened immediately. As they stepped in, Rey began to tell him a little about the base.

"The level were leaving now is 35. There are 40 levels in all and counted from the top down. I've never been lower than this one, but I think it's mostly engineering beyond here."

Ben nodded, but said nothing, just rubbing the fingers of his right hand over the ones she had still wrapped around his elbow. His eyes were locked on her face, but Rey's eyes were closed as she thought about what Ben might be interested in, or needed to know.

"Umm... there are several residential floors, offices and laboratories. Most of those floors are abandoned. The training hall is located on level 12, and there's also some conference rooms and so on we use. The GRC and I all live on level 25, so I would assume your quarters will be there too."

Rey's eyes flicked to the numbers indicating what level they were on, and a frown crossed her face as she noted they were crossing level 33. 

"Stay off levels 30 through 33. Apparently there was a very nasty accident here and those levels are dangerous."

"What kind of accident?" Ben asked curiosly.

"I'm not entirely sure," Rey sighed. "I know that this place was a research facility, and that some of the research was so singular that even after the Empire fell a lot of researchers remained here. One of the experiments went badly, a huge energy spike ran through the facility. Afterwards, only the GRC were left, but they were.... _changed._ "

Rey didn't elaborate further, but Ben could _sense_ that something terrible had happened as their lift crossed those levels. He suppressed a slight shudder, but no more was said and they fell into a comfortable silence until the lift stopped suddenly at level 25.

Rey continued to guide him by his left elbow, and Ben noted the various entryways. His years with the First Order made it clear to him that this was not the usual sort of residential level, with a mixture of lower ranked barracks and highly ranking officers on the same floor. Whatever this level had been designed for, it had allowed for a closer intermingling of ranks than was usually permitted and he couldn't help but wonder _why_ that would have been encouraged.

It wasn't long before Rey stopped outside a door that was clearly meant for one of the highest ranked officers, and he smiled a little at the thought of his scavenger being treated with the value she deserved. _They're all very protective of her,_ Anakin had told him, but clearly there was more to it. As if she was of the highest high value to them here.

Rey let go of his arm in order to lay her palm over the datapad at the entrance, but frowned a little as the door slid open. Instead of stepping through, she tapped a few commands into the pad, and then grabbed Ben's right hand. Seeing her intention, he splayed his fingers and palm for her as she guided his hand towards the panel, but he looked at her with a question in his eyes.

"In case you need anything," Rey explained. "Or..."

She blushed. "Well anyway, there's not much point in locking doors against each other given what we can do."

Ben started to lean down towards her, as Rey tilted her head slightly back to turn her face to his. But they were interrupted before their lips could make contact

"Mistress Rey!"

Gritting his teeth and with a faint groan of exasperation, Ben turned to a black enamelled protocol droid. Rey sighed.

"LD-2ZY," Rey said evenly, both greeting the droid and introducing him to Ben.

"Do you need me to call a security detail for this _intruder_?"

Rey shook her head. "This is Ben Solo, LD. He's joining us. Can you make us some caf and perhaps something to eat?"

LD looked up and down at Ben, before turning to head back up the hallway towards the kitchen. Ben could faintly hear the droid muttering something too low to make out clearly, and he was reminded of something from his childhood.... as if Rey was reading his mind, she gave a faint snort of laughter.

"Yeah, he reminds me of Threepio too."

She lead him to the small sitting area in the larger kitchen/dining room, and they sat comfortably on the large armchairs whilst LD prepared the caf and a light meal of fruit and cheese. Rey seemed reluctant to say much in front of the droid, waiting until they were served before thanking LD and then instructing him to head to "bed" to charge for the night. Ben watched as a panel in the kitchen wall opened to reveal a small closet. He watched the droid settle itself on a round pad set into the flooring of the closet, before the panel swung shut again.

They drank their caf and ate their supper, talking a little about the facility and how Rey's training had progressed in the months since Crait. She wanted to know all about what had happened to Ben over the same time frame, but he shook his head.

"I promise I'll tell you all about it," Ben told her gently, "but you already know how it ended, and it's a long story better told when you're not so tired."

Rey's head nodded, although Ben wasn't entirely sure if it was agreement or fatigue. In any case, it was only another few minutes before she rolled into her side, curled up on the armchair and closed her eyes. Too big to do the same, Ben leaned his head back against the armchair's back, and was soon asleep himself.

Rey awoke, still curled up on the chair, to the sound of the call bell for her door. She slowly stretched before unsteadily walking through the apartment to the door. Eighty-four waited patiently for her, a hover trolley with her trunk and the crate of books behind him.

"Come in," Rey yawned. "Ben's asleep though."

"In a chair." Rey squeaked as Eighty-four started to march forcefully into the apartment.

Her ragged protector nodded, then turned back to retrieve her trunk and crate. Rey took the books, but directed him to leave the trunk by the door as she took the books past Ben and through the apartment to her study, then backtracked to the armchair Ben slept in. He was snoringly softly, looking younger and more vulnerable somehow, and Rey was reluctant to wake him. Still, it couldn't be a comfortable way to sleep the night, and Eighty-four stood watching him with arms crossed and an impatient tapping of his boots. If she didn't wake Ben, Eighty-four probably would, and since he seemed to be quite unimpressed by Ben might not be too gentle about it either.

She sat on the arm rest of his chair, and gently stroked her fingers across his cheek. Ben sighed in his sleep, but didn't wake, so she gently shook his shoulder.

"Ben?"

His eyes opened and he leaned his face into the arm she had stretched out to his shoulder.

"Hey sweetheart."

"Hey yourself. Eighty-four is here to take you to your quarters."

Ben scowled momentarily, rolling his shoulders tiredly before peering past Rey to her silent protector who stood at attention with his arms crossed. 

_Yep, definitely does **not** like me._

Rey kissed him gently on the forehead.

"Play nice, both of you," Rey looked at Eighty-four. "I'll see you both in the morning."

*****

Poe Dameron realised Leia Organa had become old.

It wasn't even a year since Starkiller and then Crait, yet the perpetually young and energetic General now looked old and tired. Poe supposed it was the multiple losses in such a short period of time - Han Solo at the hands of Kylo Ren, the Hosnian System, most of the Resistance, her brother Luke Skywalker, and now Rey.

She had said nothing when Poe and Finn had informed her that Rey had fallen to the Dark side. She had joined Kylo Ren, and used the force against them _with Ren_. 

But she also had that eyebrow quirk she often gave Poe, when she was _planning_ something, or had some additional knowledge she was keeping from him. Even so, Poe noted again to himself that she looked tired, _old and tired_ , and for the first time he began to realise she would not be leading them forever. 

Her cane, once almost an affect, was now a constant companion for support, and a perpetual miasma of deep sadness emanated from her. A sadness that only seemed to deepen when Poe told her about Rey falling.

"She's joined the First Order," Finn had confirmed. "They are clearly together. He must have brainwashed her, or used the Force to compel her... she's with _him_ now."

Poe had almost forgotten to pass on the message from Ren - about contacting Maz and there being something for her on Takodana.

*****

Ben found his lodgings seemed to have the same layout as Rey's, or at least what little of her quarters he had seen, but in a mirror image. And it seemed, quite literally, that he and Rey were next door neighbours, for the door to his own quarters was the next one down the hall. GRC-084 seemed slightly displeased by the proximity. Eighty-four had unlocked the door, set Ben's palm and fingers against the pad to allow him free access, then _shoved_ him through the door before scowling at him and then walking off.

 _I guess he doesn't like me,_ Ben thought.

"He's especially protective of Rey," Anakin told him as he flickered into existence in Ben's receiving room.

"Grandfather," Ben said curtly, not entirely sure of his feelings regarding his Grandfather's ghost. "Do they know who I am?"

Anakin shrugged. "Maybe, depending on what Rey told them. I doubt your previous position as Supreme Leader _bothers_ them. They all know who I was."

Ben flopped onto one of the couches, head on one of the arms but the calves and feet of his long body hanging over the arm of the other end. He sighed loudly, uncomfortable being separated from Rey again after the enforced separation of separate craft.

"Why does he seem to hate me?"

Anakin chuckled. "Like I said, they are all quite protective of her, but he is especially so. He doesn't hate you.... he treats her a little like a protective father. You just haven't proven you're deserving of his little girl."

Ben scowled, but let the matter drop. He would just have to prove he was worthy, as he had been trying to prove to _someone_ his whole life. At least now, he had someone he didn't resent proving himself to. When he thought of destiny, he realised that the idea was something that followed him since childhood, but before Rey destiny had been something that had a hollow edge to it. It had never felt right, whatever so called destiny or fate he had followed until now. But joining Rey, for the first time he felt his destiny was right, and he was complete. _Whole_.

It felt wrong to not be in the same space with her. Though she was in an apartment literally on the other side of his, only thin metal walls between them, it felt like they were another system apart. He tried to shake off the feeling, and take an interest in his own space.

"I suppose there's a protocol droid here too," Ben sighed. He didn't _hate_ droids, but after a childhood punctuated by droid caretakers including one that had tried to kill him, he was slightly leery of having one constantly around his quarters. Still, he supposed he would need it to at least show him where to find everything. And maybe get some new clothes, since his old First Order garb that he currently wore was literally _all_ he had with him.

"We will talk in the morning," Anakin advised. "You get settled in and get some rest."

*****

In a room high in her rebuilt castle, Maz Kanata met with General Leia Organa. The private suite, late night arrival on an unmarked private transport after leaving the Tantive IV in orbit in a nearby system, and the accompaniment of only two hired mercenaries as guards rather than members of the Resistance had allowed the General to meet Maz in secrecy, but neither was mistaken that the risk of recognition grew the longer she remained. There was, after all, still a large First Order bounty on her head as the leader of the Resistance.

"Your son has sent you a message," Maz said quietly, large eyes darting to the mercenaries lounging at the window.

Leia breathed a sigh of relief. _So he is alive_.

Maz passed her a small data chip. "His message is on that, along with one he sent _me_ of all people. You should watch that too."

Leia frowned at her in surprise.

"It's very interesting. And I am quite sure the man n that message is truly _Ben Solo_."

Leia's fingers gripped the data chip tightly, and she swallowed with some difficulty.

"And I must introduce you to a delightful young man who brought you a gift from your son too....."

Maz tapped a com on the bracelet at her wrist. "Send me young Dopheld. And some breakfast, we're starving up here."

Leia gave the same frown of surprise again.

"It seems young Ben not only got this young man to desert the First Order, but along with one of the Council who is also defecting, you are now prison warden to the Supreme Council."

"Ben's handed me some of the galaxies biggest war criminals on a platter," breathed the General.

*****

Alone in her quarters on the Tantive IV, Leia Organa sat at the desk built into the wall with a large holoprojector in front of her nervously debating whether she was prepared for the face and voice of the man who had been her little boy. It was.. _twenty years_ since she had sent him to Luke, as a ten year old boy. There had been almost no contact since then, save for a few comms on birthdays in the beginning (despite Luke's grumbling complaints) until Ben had stopped calling her himself and then finally stopped answering her calls. Thinking back on it, her last communication with him had been a painful exchange on his 18th birthday, a surly and unpleasant Ben who eventually told her not to call again.

_"Really mother, you and Han can just stop pretending to care."_

And he had disconnected the call. Leia had been so shocked, and angry too, that she hadn't tried to call back. A few days later she had tried to call him, but he refused to answer. Luke hadn't helped her get through to him, either.

_"Let the boy finish his training, Leia. He'll come to understand then."_

Leia sighed, refusing to give in to tears. If only the peace that she had fought so hard for had lasted. If only Snoke, and the First Order, hadn't risen from the ashes of the Empire. She wanted to see her son, the little boy who had such light, but had been lost to the darkness. Had Rey truly brought him back to the light? The message was encrypted, but thinking for a moment she realised Ben would only have used one lock code, the same one he had used when he first entered the Academy and would send him weekly letters. She brought up the projection, and gasped when she saw him. He looked so young, so beautiful, and.... dare she hope he was _happy_?

_He was in a pilot's seat, and the light reflecting around him suggested he was making this recording from hyperspace._

_"General Organa," Ben began sternly, but softened almost immediately. " **Mother**."_

_He flipped a couple of switches above him and leaned back in the seat to cross his arms._

_"It's been a while, hasn't it? I'm in hyperspace right now, following Rey. It will be a few hours so I finally have the time alone and the right frame of mind to talk."_

_A soft smile tugs at the corners of his mouth, before he sighs._

_"There is a lot that has happened you're not aware of, and so much I want to tell you.... I'd like to think we will see each other again so I can tell you myself, but if I am honest with you I don't think that will ever happen. And it's not just that there is so much between us now, that's not why I can't come home. It certainly doesn't help of course. If I tried to come home I'm quite sure I'd be shot on the spot, or put on trial for war crimes...."_

_He rubs his hand against his right cheek, the one Rey told her she had sliced open with a saber._

Leia paused the recording for a moment, trying to run her finger in wonder along the unmarked cheek of her son's face, but merely scattered the photons holding his image in place.

_"I spent a long time following Snoke, the dark side, because that's what I thought my destiny was. To be the next Vader. To at least bring order, if not peace.... by the time I realised I was a prisoner of my own making it was too late. I fought the voices in my head for so long... but then Luke tried to kill me. He came to my hut, and lit his saber whilst I was sleeping. The voices woke me in time, and after that.... everyone was against me, they thought I'd killed Luke and burned the temple, and nobody would listen to me. Only Snoke and the dark side wanted me then."_

Leia gasped, the Force speaking the truth of Luke's betrayal, and her grief for her lost son was almost overwhelming

_"I would have stayed under his thumb forever, believing in the destiny he laid out for me, but then Rey came along and suddenly I was questioning **everything**. She came to me on the Supremacy, such a foolish thing to do, really Mother she reminded me of Han then. I took her to Snoke, thinking he would turn her, but he was going to kill her."_

_Ben gives a soft chuckle._

_"Oh I was in love with her already, I just hadn't realised it. I think I was in love with her before I even **met** her, of all things. I used to dream of her, a girl in the desert, a woman without a face. I never realised until I touched her mind that it was **her**. But after Starkiller, we started seeing each other. Like a vision, a force connection, then we touched hands and even though we were separated by half the galaxy I could **feel** her fingers against mine, Mother. Luke caught us, and he was furious... I was worried he would hurt her. _ _When I felt her presence as she approached I thought Luke had tried to kill her, like he did me, and she had fled like I did. I though she was coming to join the dark side."_

_A dark shadow crosses Ben's face then, and his voice drops a little as if he is ashamed of the next part of the story._

_"Rather than a sad tale of how her master had betrayed her, as Luke did me, she was trying to turn me back to the light! Me, of all people._ _I should have kissed her in the elevator, I was so tempted by the light in her, and instead of going to the throne room we should have kept going down to the hangar and escaped right then and there. But I was still loyal to my Master, and to the dark side, so I brought her before Snoke in order to have him turn her. What he did to Rey, it...it wasn't pleasant. Every scream tore into me, I felt everything she felt, and I was so afraid for her._

_"He told us **he** had bridged our minds, that there was nothing special between us, and though it made me furious that I had been deceived by him, I was even more angry that it had led Rey into such danger. When he ordered me to kill her.... I let him think I was obeying, and she was so frightened because I hid my true intention so well. But I killed him instead. And then together, we killed the guards."_

_Ben sighs then._

_"After... she begged me to come with her, and I begged her to join me, and then we fought each other. She won again."_

_Ben chuckles a little at the memory of Rey beating him a second time._

_"I couldn't hear the voices in my head anymore, Mother. And I think that was quite possibly the most frightening thing of all, because I had no direction. I should have clung to her, but instead I panicked about the silence... the last half a year would have been very different if I'd followed her. Perhaps I could have even come home. I know she wanted to bring me home to you, even after what I did to Han."_

Leia finally allowed the tears to fall as she thought of how sad Rey had seemed after Crait, and Leia realised how much pain Rey had spared her. Luke's betrayal, Ben's almost return, and Rey's own confusion and feelings of failure.

_"I took control of the First Order, and I let everyone believe Rey had killed Snoke. And even though it put a target on her back, she said nothing to any of you, did she? If she had let the truth be known, I'm quite sure my own Generals would have cut my throat in my sleep, but she protected me. And what did I do in return? I wanted her hunted down, and brought to me. Maybe she thought I wanted her dead to protect my secret... that's what Luke's kriffing ghost thought. But I just wanted **her**. I was obsessed with her." _

_Ben becomes quiet, just staring out past the camera at the space ahead of him._

_"Truthfully, I think I still am."_

If it wasn't for the movement at Ben's jaw, Leia would have thought the recording was finished. She recognised that slight clenching and unclenching, the chewing of air... he used to do that as a small child when he was thinking about something, debating whether to speak, or sometime when he ws just upset. He finally continued in a quiet tone.

_"I don't cope well alone, Mother. Things did not go well for me as Supreme Leader. I think, for a while at least, I wasn't sane. There's something about this connection between Rey and I, as if we are meant to be together. I don't mean romantically, although honestly I do love her, rather that we are two halves of one whole as far as the Force is concerned. I know that once I found her, being apart from her was painful. But she came to me on the Finalizer, to save me again, and this time she succeeded. Now I know what my destiny is, and it's not the dark side or the light side. My destiny is to be at Rey's side, whatever that brings."_

_Ben sighs happily, before clearing his throat._

_"I don't know why I confessed all that, when really all I needed to say is that I've sent you a defector, my steward Mitaka, and he has a gift for you. The entire Supreme Council is now in your custody. Quinn, suprisingly, was more than willing to help Mitaka, but I'll let him tell you why he was willing to betray the Order. There's only Pryde left, and no doubt he'll rise to the top like flotsam, but he's an obsolete thinker and an obsolete strategiser. His reserve fleet will reinforce the Order by way of ships, but weaken it by his leadership."_

_He smiles at her, and it's one that is so genuine it reaches to crinkle his eyes._

_"I love you mother."_

The projection dimmed, and Leia couldn't stop the flow of her tears. She couldn't bring herself to watch Ben's message to Maz tonight. 

Leia lay down in her bed, exhausted, and clutching a small piece of linen that had once been used to swaddle baby Ben. She sighed, closing her eyes and seeking the peace of sleep.

"My son is alive."


	11. The Call

Rey slept fitfully, unable to truly sink down into restful slumber, but it wasn't until the morning cycle was almost upon her that she realised _why_. It was the absence of Ben. The last few times she had fallen asleep, Ben had been with her. She hadn't been able to fall asleep in her x-wing as it thundered through hyperspace back to Jakku either... but she had fallen asleep in his arms on the Finalizer, and slumped against his shoulder on the journey from the hangar back to the base, and he had been nearby when they both fell asleep in the chairs near the kitchen. It didn't matter that he was somewhere here on the base, on this same level and probably very close. She couldn't hear him breathing, or his heart beating... she wasn't sure where he was exactly.

What little sleep she did have was plagued by strange dreams as well. A chorus of giggling voices, someone brushing her hair as a small child, and then finally Ben's voice calling her name in a worried voice. In the end, Rey decided simply to get out of bed rather than fight against her dreams, and she pulled items from her dressing room before using the 'fresher and taking a hot shower. She dressed in black tights, knee high grey boots, a sleeveless black tunic and a light grey gauzy wrap that she secured with her weapon belt before attaching her saber and blaster. Finally, she pulled her hair into a high pony tail before wrapping it around itself and pinning the loose bun to the top of her head.

Rey debated waking LD but figured a protein bar eaten on the way to the training hall would suffice for breakfast, a sudden need to get out of her rooms urging her on. Grabbing her staff as the door opened, she stepped out into the corridor and almost straight into a large, warm, grey clad chest.

Ben.

She blinked up at him for a moment, before a smile broke out across her face. They had managed to find clothes for him at short notice, that were most definitely in his size as well. Like her he was dressed in greys and blacks, a popular colour amongst Imperials and the First Order, and similarly dressed to herself too, although he had chosen loose pants and a short sleeved overshirt for her leggings and wrap respectively, and his boots were only to the midcalf. 

"Sleep okay?" Ben enquired, but both a whisper through the bond as well as the dark circles under his eyes told her Ben's sleep had been equally restless.

She shook her head and shrugged, but stepped wordlessly out of the room before wrapping her arm in his.

"Where did they put your rooms?"

He shrugged back towards the outer door next to hers, and Rey huffed a small laugh.

"It felt like it was a lot further."

Ben nodded bemusedly, and let her lead him down the corridor to the lifts.

*****

Watching Rey spar with a staff against one of the GRC, Ben could see her fighting skills had grown exponentially since Crait. Anakin's ghost stood to one side of the mat, occasionally shouting instructions and words of encouragement, and whilst Rey had beaten Ben in all of their previous encounters as a consequence of Ben's own injuries or distractions, he was no longer so certain that he could defeat her in an equal fight.

 _She'll always be able to distract me_ , Ben realised to himself. But she must have heard him thinking as she stared at him for a moment and Rey's answering smile filled Ben's heart A heart which just as quickly sank when the momentary distraction left her opponent an opening. A blow to her stomach dropped Rey to her knees, but she was quick to roll away and get to her feet.

"Focus!" Anakin called, but he sounded amused as he looked at Ben from the side of his eye. 

So unlike Ben's own masters, who had always been angry, frustrated, or disappointed in him. 

"Sorry Master Skywalker," Rey muttered, band her side glance at Ben confirmed for Anakin exactly where her distraction lay.

The Force ghost narrowed his eyes slightly, before raising his hand to call an end to the sparring session. Rey's GRC sparring partner stood to attention with his staff at his side before bowing to Rey and passing his staff to Ben. As Ben took the staff he heard the man muttering a string of basic numbers and letters, _GRC00110010FS_ _,_ the first relatively clear words he'd heard from any of the GRC. 

Ben looked to Anakin, questioningly.

"Since neither of you seem to be able to pay attention to anything apart from the other..."

Rey's answering blush, Ben decided, was rather pretty, but her feral grin at the idea of battling him seemed to suddenly dry out Ben's mouth. Rey was about to take her stance when GRC-084 ran up to the mat carrying another staff, and handed it over to Rey.

"My new prototype?" Rey asked her protector, who answered her with a short but decisive nod. "Thank-you Eighty-four"

Ben gave her a moment as she tested the balance of her new weapon. It was roughly the same length as her old staff, but thinner and almost certainly lighter in weight, with a raised centre grip. He watched her twirl it over her forearm, thrust a few times in practice.... and noted that, oddly, she never once set it on the ground unlike with her previous staff. And _why_ would she choose a staff lighter in weight? It offered no advantage to lighten her staff.

After a few minutes, Rey nodded at Ben, and they began to circle the other on the mat. As they had on Starkiller, the first to make a move was Rey, bringing an overhead strike down against him they he blocked easily with his own staff. In response, Ben spun around to add increased speed and force to his answering swipe, and Rey jumped back with a small yelp and glancing blow that knocked his staff out of reach of her leg.

Blow and counter-blow continued for almost a quarter hour, neither opponent willing to yield. Anakin nodded from time to time, the occasional correction or comment offered.

"Reach out, the Force is your ally. Listen to it, feel it. It will guide your movements."

By the end of the quarter hour Rey was beginning to tire, and she couldn't help but wonder at Ben's stamina and if she would ever match it. She was panting slightly, sweat on her brow and neck and plastering loose hairs to her skin. Her bun, which had stayed perfectly in place whilst sparring with the GRC, was coming apart after the heavy repeated blows. Ben, however, seemed to hardy break a sweat.

Worse though, a buzzing had set in towards the back of head, distracting her and making it harder to focus on Ben's movements. His frown when she almost failed to block one of his blows brought her attention back momentarily, but she failed to see his next move. In a swift movement, he wrapped one long arm around her waist and slammed his staff against the lower half of hers to pin her in postion.

"Yield Scavenger."

Rey sagged against him for a moment, and Ben felt a brief flash of victory before Rey twisted her hands on her staff and suddenly the top half of her staff was against his neck. He looked down to see her staff had separated into two pieces.

"If this was the end of my saber, I'd argue I have the upper hand now."

"What is this," Ben asked, nodding at the half staff.

"Oh... I was thinking about building a saber staff, but Anakin suggested I try this. I guess you just proved him correct about it's hidden advantages."

She twisted against him slightly to look up into his eyes, and he was looking down into hers... and Maker if he didn't suddenly have an urge to kiss her, the presence of Anakin and the GRC be damned.

But Eighty-four was pushing him away from Rey and examining her to make sure she was uninjured, and Anakin was looking at him thoughtfully... and if there had been anyone in that room who _didn't_ know how he felt about Rey before Ben was damned sure it was clear to everyone now.

"I'm fine," Rey shook off the worried Eighty-four. "I think I'm just a bit tired still after yesterday."

Ben frowned, remembering her head injury, and worried he might have pushed her too far. Rey obviously felt some of his worry, because she shook her head slightly and smiled at him.

She took one deep, shuddering breath. "I clearly need to build up a little more stamina."

"Go take a shower and a rest for a couple of hours," Anakin directed her. "Ben and I should talk anyway. We should meet again at 1400 hours."

Rey nodded, a brief lingering glance toward Ben. But he couldn't just let her go, he reached out the same hand and with that same pleading look he'd had on the Supremacy, and after a moment she took his hand in her own. Audience be damned, he reached down to briefly kiss her, before they separated and Ben was left with a scowling Eighty-four and an amused Anakin.

*****

Ben and Anakin were wandering the twelfth floor, Anakin pointing out a few of the meeting rooms, a gym and so forth. Safe conversation. Ben supposed this would be their normal, the ghost of a man who died a few years before Ben's birth, and who until recently Ben seemed to have been mirroring his path. At least Ben had lived after his own return to the light. He was somewhat surprised when Anakin bluntly raised the topic.

"I suppose you have questions about why I never came to you?"

Ben sighed. "Honestly? I thought the voice in my head was you for a long time. I realised after few years I thought it was the dark side... after Snoke, after I killed him... I realised it was a trick of his to control me."

"But you sought me out in the Force? Surely Luke explained to you that becoming this," and Anakin waved a ghostly hand vaguely towards his own chest, "it is something only those with the Light side as their ally can achieve?"

Ben have his long dead grandfather a rueful grimace. "Luke.... he did not explain a lot of things when it came to you. Probably because your relationship to my mother was a great secret for much of my youth."

Anakin sighed. "A pity, all the more so as it seems it pushed you headlong towards Snoke. And yes, I know about Luke attacking you. But had they given you that knowledge, the propensity for the dark side.... you might have been prepared properly and been better able to resist the dark side. He might never have had that moment of weakness, and if he had you might have seen you had other options."

Ben shrugged his shoulders. What was done was done, he supposed, and there was no way to take it all back now. He had, surprisingly, come mostly to terms with everything that had befallen him. And as long as she would have him, Rey was his sanctuary, his peace, and perhaps his home.

"Are you my Master now too, Grandfather?"

Anakin shook his head. "You need no Master, Ben. If you were still a Jedi, you would have reached that rank by now. And truthfully, Rey has grown beyond me. Soon, you will be her teacher, just as you promised her the first time you locked sabers against each other.

" _What_?"

Anakin chuckled. "You are two halves of one whole, you were always meant to find each other. As far as the Force is concerned, things didn't exactly turn out the way they were intended.You falling to the dark side wasn't what changed things. Something happened to Rey long before that to set your paths astray."

Ben stopped walking, certain now that at least a few of his suspicions regarding her were true.

"That's not really her name though, is it Grandfather?" He watched Anakin carefully, but other than a brief flicker of a raised eyebrow, the ghost of his grandfather was unresponsive. "I found an old helmet in her AT-AT, with the name _Raeh_ on it. How likely would such a coincidence be, really? She took her name from the helmet, I'm sure of it. Who _is_ she? And why does she think she's nobody?"

" _You_ called her nobody."

"Because that's what I _saw_ in her mind!"

Anakin sighed, but didn't answer. He motioned Ben to follow him, before stopping at the lifts.

"Training Rey will soon be your task, I've nothing left to teach her and my time here is almost up. Go, make sure she is alright."

*****

Rey was most definitely _not_ alright. She had showered, and picked at a bowl of fruit chunks LD had offered her, but lying on her bed in sleep shift afterwards she found that sleep eluded her. There was an ache behind her eyes, her limbs felt heavy, and the intermittent buzzing in her ears had become a constant low level hum like the last ringing tones of a bell.

Not even the sense of Ben approaching, looking for her, made her feel any better. When he silently appeared at her bedroom door, she rolled on to her side to look at him, and she could see the silent worry at her distress. She reached one arm towards him, and he knelt on the floor beside her hold her hand.

"What's wrong Rey?"

Rey just shook her head, as a tear threatened to fall, and frowned.

"I don't know. Can you... can you just lay here with me so I can sleep?"

He shucked off his boots, and his overshirt, and she shuffled to the other side of the bed to make room for him. Just as she had when he had calmed her panic attack on the Finalizer, Rey found his arms around her soothing her current distress as she settled her back against his warm, broad chest. The humming noise remained, but the physical contact of his arms as well as the mental contact of their bond, gave her respite from the unnamed trouble she felt. And when he kissed her hair, the tightness in her chest let go, and finally Rey was able to sleep.

*****

_She is thirsty, so thirsty, and her small feet are burning. She is only little, and has never known thirst before. She struggles to keep up, the woman in front of her pulling on her arm, almost dragging her, and the man keeps telling her if she doesn't keep up they won't be able to escape the bad people. They were supposed to be saving her from the bad people, but she can't remember who the bad people were._

_She's not dressed for the sun. She is in a stiff dress made of a rough fabric, tied with a leather belt.... and there's a scorch mark on the left with an ache in her hip beneath. It isn't supposed to be worn outside she remembers suddenly. In fact, she is not supposed to go outside at all. Her arms are bare, reddening in the glare of the sun and the light reflected from the sand. Her little shoes are thin, little better than socks, and her feet are sweating inside them so badly she can feel the skin of her soles tearing._

_The heat was making her unwell. She can't really see the people taking her across the sand, but she has a vague impression they are wearing dark clothes, and they had some sort of outer garment with colourful decorations when they first started walking, but have long been discarded in the heat._

_Barely conscious, she stumbles along behind the angry woman who keeps pulling on her, and she starts to see darkness as she stumbles forward into the sand._

_When she becomes aware of her surroundings again, the man is carrying her. He looks sort of sad, but he refuses to look at her. She thinks she has seen him before, but she doesn't know him very well, and she's not sure why she is with these people. Something happened, something very bad she thinks, but she cannot remember what it is._

_They were not walking any more, and as she looked around she saw they were in a place with other people. There were a few proper enclosed buildings, but mostly a series of lean-to's interspersed with a few fabric draped tents and shelters._

_"That thing is half dead," the angry woman tells the man, "Get her some more water. She won't fetch enough to get us off this miserable excuse of a planet like that"_

_Because she is small, and there's too much going on, she drinks her water and spends some time dozing not really aware of what is going on. The man has put her down at some point in the shade of one of the more substantial buildings._

_This place is so hot. It's so different to what she's known before, although she can't actually remember anything before walking across the sand. But she is sure that she has never been hot like this before._

_After a while, the woman pulls her to her feet roughly, and drags her by the arm to stand before a scary looking humanoid. He is wide, and puffy looking, and somehow she knows the species - Crolute - just as she is sure she'd never actually met one before. She can't really focus properly, still suffering heat sickness, but she gathers his name is Unkar Plutt._

_She hears the woman arguing with Plutt, but cant make out the words. The man comes to stand next to them, speaking softly to the woman._

_"It will be enough", the man tells her, staying a hand on the woman's shoulder. A few objects pass from Plutt's hands to the woman's._

_He turns to Plutt. "Show us the way to the ship."_

_Plutt somehow has his large hand around her small arm, as if he is now the one in charge of her. He drags her through the tiny settlement, and she sees the woman stop briefly at one of tents to pass one of the objects in her hands over in exchange for a couple of containers of liquid before the merchant passes back the object._

Credit chip _, she realises, although she cant remember ever seeing one before._

_The next thing she knows they have passed under an archway of sorts, which marks entry to a small fenced area with a number of ships in it._

_She has never seen the vessel Plutt leads them to before, but something about it fills her with dread. Its small, silvery, with round twin engines._

_The woman boards the ship without even looking at her, but the man stops to kneel in front of her and touches her hair. Three little buns stacked at the back of her head, and she can't remember either of these people every arranging her hair like this but she is sure someone who cared about her did it every day._

_"They won't look for you here", the man tells her, "you'll be safe here."_

_Plutt asks him a question, she thinks it is to ask the man who she is, but the man just shrugs._

_"Safer for everyone if you don't know."_

_He boards the ship behind the woman, and the doors close. She is frightened now, and angry - so very angry. They are leaving without her and this strange creature is keeping her. She begins to cry as the vessel takes off, and screams out at it._

_"No! Come back!" She struggles against Plutt's hand, the one pinching the upper portion of her right arm as she twists against him._

_"Quiet Girl."_

_She looks back at the ship and cries out again._

_"Noooo!"_

_Her vision dims, everything tinged with a sort of red hue, and with her last scream she feels as if all the energy in her body is leaving her. The last thing she sees is a brilliant flash of red._

_When she wakes up, she is in chains, and sheltering in a tiny broken lean-to with three other children. She's the only one in chains and one of the other children, a boy she thinks, tells her it's because Plutt is scared of her._

Rey opened her eyes, stifling a sob, to find Ben staring into her. Somehow during her sleep, she had rolled into his chest, and he was holding her tightly to him with one arm whilst rubbing small soothing circles into her back with the other.

"You were having a nightmare, Rey."

She nodded unnecessarily.

"I saw it too. Your parents?"

Another trickle of tears escaped her, but Rey was able to hake her head in reply. Whoever the people were in her memory, and she was absolutely certain it was a memory and not a dream or a vision, she was just as certain that these people were not her parents.

"Before," Rey finally speaks, "I only ever had a few scraps of memory. Being given to Plutt…. crying when they flew away. I suppose I also remembered her buying that jug, and you plucked that memory from my mind before the Supremacy. But now, I'm sure that I knew him at least a little, but not her. They were not my parents at all."

"I think there's a great many things about you we've both been mistaken about my love."

He kissed her forehead, then each closed eye in turn, before gently combed his fingers through her hair as she continued to cry silently.

"I don't know who they were, but what does that mean Ben? Who am I?"

 _You're my everything_ , Ben thought, letting her hear it too _._

Rey shuddered in his arms, but her tears had stopped. She pulled away from him to roll on to her back and she just stared at the ceiling above her silently. Ben felt at a loss to help her at that moment, but then a large growl emanated from her stomach and he could think of one very practical thing he could do for her.

"Did you eat?"

Rey sighed. "A little fruit."

"I'll get something prepared for us both then. Take your time getting dressed and join me when you're ready."

He was gone from the room for a full minute before Rey remembered what he had called her. _My love._ Almost against her will, Rey smiled at the memory.

They ate sitting on the stools against the kitchen counter. Ben had made bowls of noodles, swimming in a slightly spicy broth with chunks of veg-protein and finely shredded vegetables. Glasses of ice cold juice, and another plate of fruit with some cheese to finish. He leaned over to kiss her cheek, her lips and her neck from time to time, and slowly she began to smile at him again. Rey had to admit it was quite possibly the best meal she had ever eaten. He could have fed her sand, and she'd have declared it the best meal ever based on the kissing alone.

She hardly noticed the buzzing had returned, what with all the distraction he offered her.

Eventually, he eyed the chronometer on the wall, and nodded towards it.

"Not long until 1400," Ben noted.

She had dressed again in a similar outfit to the morning's, save for the leggings now being a dark brown instead of black and the wrap a soft green and not grey. Ben however was still wearing the morning's clothes and noted with a frown that he was slightly whiffy. He sighed, and realised he needed to go to his own quarters first.

"Wait here for me," Ben murmured into her ear, "I need to freshen up first. I'll walk with you to the Training Hall."

Ben's fingers tangled in hers for a moment as Rey popped a piece of sweet fruit into her mouth with her other hand, then distractedly waved him off.

"I'll be here."

The moment the door to her quarters closed behind him, Rey folded her elbows against the kitchen counter and let her forehead rest on her palms. Ben's presence had pushed the ringing in her ears at bay, but at his leaving it returned with a vengeance. Her thumbs, which had rested against her temples, began to rub a slow pattern massaging the corners of her eyes and her temples.

Rey closed her eyes, continuing to try and soothe the headache. Within seconds, she was accosted by images, likely flashes of memory.

_She is a little girl, sitting on a thick rug on a durasteel floor, a dozen young women with faces she cant quite see but all dressed the same, and all with a saber clipped to their hip._

_Standing in a medbay, holding the hand of one of the GRC, whilst a doctor puts a needle in to her arm and takes a sample of her blood. He is the same man who carried her across the desert._

_On her own in a large what room, playing on the floor with some blocks whilst the doctor stands on the other side of a glass window with a large number of officers who aren't GRC. The doctor presses his nose to the glass, watching as one of the blocks she has been stacking with floats in the air before she grabs it out of the air and places it by hand on the stack in front of her._

_Crouching under a desk with one of the GRC - the badge says GRC-084 - and they are hiding from something. But this isn't a game, she can hear the sound of blaster fire and sabres clashing, and people screaming._

Rey opened her eyes and tried to shake off the images, but the humming like the final rings of large bell was louder now. And there was a strange pull - as though she was being called to something. The same sort of pull she still had to Ben, or the chest beneath Maz's castle, and the mirror cave on Ahch-To. A pull she recognises it as the Force itself. She'd never failed to follow those pulls before, and they have always lead her to something she needed - even the cave, the bond afterwards with Kylo which led her to the truth of Ben. 

Of course she wanted to follow it. The plan to wait for Ben here, to go to the training hall together, was forgotten as Rey closed her eyes and gave in to the call. The moment she gave in to it, Rey was no longer thinking but following an instinct. Snapping her eyes open, she walked out of her quarters toward the lifts in a daze, not closing the door to her quarters behind her.


	12. Nothing Good For The Galaxy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A short chapter bringing us back to our friends in the Resistance.

Armitage Hux, Leia decided, was truly an ass. Yet he had been a rather useful ass during his interrogation. The man openly and freely admitted to being the driving force behind Starkiller base, which he had proposed to Snoke and built despite then apprentice Kylo Ren's fervent objections. Even if Kylo's objections had been couched along the lines of "remember the Death Stars" and what could go wrong, it was now on record that her Ben had not been involved in its creation or the decision to fire it.

Of course, it wouldn't sway everyone - hell it wouldn't sway _most_ people given he had been the face of the First Order, but to General Organa it was just further proof that her son had never been completely lost.

Although that made her feel worse in some respects. Because she _had_ given up hope at Crait, even when Luke tried to give it to her. _No-one is ever truly gone_. And she wanted so much to hold on to her hope, to the belief that in the end the sacrifices and the losses would be worth it. But even if Ben had returned to the light, she knew his feeling they would never see each other again was something she had felt too. She had lost her precious little boy two decades before, when she sent him to Luke and sealed his fate.

Maker, she was kriffing tired. In the last year or so, even before Rey appeared, Leia had begun to feel her age. But the loss of Han, most of the Resistance at Crait, Luke - they seemed to have added two decades to her age. And then Rey leaving them had robbed the hope and promise a Jedi offered them, the belief they could win with her by their side, from so many of the remaining Resistance. Leia had simply missed her. She felt in some ways that Rey was like the daughter she never had, despite the girls frequently aloof and standoffish attitude. Leia supposed the recognition she felt, the instant connection to Rey, was the result of her undisclosed connection to Ben. She smiled sadly to herself that someday perhaps Rey would be her _daughter in law,_ at least if Ben had his way.

She was still musing to herself as she sat at her desk, hair piled atop her head in a complex mourning braid only she knew the meaning of now, and a cup of tea in front of her. Lei sipped slowly at the tea, well aware Poe and Finn were waiting for her by Kaydel's desk. The conversation had to be had, but she was putting it off as long as she could, well aware that convincing Poe and Finn was an important first step in ensuring Ben and Rey had a place amongst the resistance should they choose to come.

Eventually, she pressed a button on the touchscreen panel to the left of her desk, and the comm system crackled to life.

"Yes General," Kaydel's calm voice could be heard.

"Send in Poe and Finn please Commander."

It was only a minute or so before the two men were sitting at the two chairs in front of her desk.

"I assume you know the truth about my son."

Poe nodded briefly. "Rey called Kylo _Ben,_ when she joined him and the First Order on Batuu. I believed the story about him dying at the Temple; gotta say General I'm rather surprised to find he's alive and well and leading the First _fucking_ Order."

Finn shrugged. "I didn't really put it together until then myself. I thought I heard Han yelling the name Ben when he confronted Kylo, but assumed later that he was confronting his son's killer."

"You know," Poe hissed sarcastically, "I'm real sure running his own father through with his sith-saber did wonders for you son's soul."

Leia stood up angrily from her desk, and stomped over to Poe's seat. Eye's flashing, she leaned over towards him and slapped his face, hard. Poe's mouth dropped open in surprise and he rubbed his cheek, glaring at her but not stupid enough to say anything else.

"You know _nothing_ of what made him the way he is, what the dark side stole from him or what killing his own father did to him."

Leia slumped slightly, half sitting on the edge of the desk. She crossed her arms, resting one elbow in the other before reaching up with her right hand to rub her temple.

"Poe, I am the last of the old leadership. Luke, Han, Ackbar, Holdo…. One day someone else has to lead this cause."

"Not Ren," Finned burst out, aghast.

Leia shook her head. "No, not my son. And not Rey either. They have their own path to follow. _And neither of them is with the First Order so you can drop it Dameron."_

Poe saw the logic in not antagonising her further.

"No, Poe. I had intended for you, and Finn, and perhaps Kaydel, to start taking a more active role in leadership. Step up so that I can begin to step down."

She crossed her arms again and stood up straighter in front of her desk.

"But you need to learn to adapt to new information, to see through your preconceived judgement.... and to have some fucking compassion for others. If not, then you're no better than Armitage Hux, just sitting on the opposite side of the fence!"

Finn scowled at her, but said nothing.

"And don't you think I don't see the hypocrisy Finn! A former Stormtrooper, you were trained to obey and kill on demand. Do you think my son wasn't also conditioned by his Master?"

Finn pursed his lips and frowned. _It's not the same,_ one side of his brain argued, _Ren was amongst the leadership, he had power over us._ But then the other side countered, _Snoke was rumoured to be an all powerful Dark Lord... Ren probably had no choice either_.

He remembered the massacre at Tuanul. Kylo had seemed needlessly cruel ordering the deaths of the villagers, but it was rumoured Hux liked to make examples of those who resisted the First Order, leaving people wounded and suffering for days before they finally expired. Kylo was known for brutal efficiency, and Finn wondered if his insistence on making sure they were all dead before he left was a sick sort of mercy instead.

And he knew Kylo Ren had been very much aware of Finn's refusal to fire on the villagers. Instead of execution, as other commanding officers might have ordered, he had been scheduled for reconditioning. A brutal process, but one that would have left him alive. He realised Leia was staring at him as if she could hear his every thought, and her faint nod told him she had at least understood some of what was running through his mind.

"Poe," Finn urged softly, "don't you think, if they were with the First Order we would have seen some sort of propaganda broadcast showing them together? And if Ren cared a jot for the Order in it's current form why do you think he handed us some of their biggest players? General Organa is probably right - he's not with the Order. Maybe he's not even evil any more. And I can't believe Rey would join him if he was, and I can't really believe she would join the Order either."

Poe looked away at the wall, struggling to balance his emotions. It wasn't just that Kylo Ren had tortured him on Starkiller. Honestly, it hadn't been his most enjoyable hour, but Ren had been relatively gentle compared to the physical assault of the First Order officers and troopers before him. And fast too - when he had to inflict pain to get his answers, he certainly hadn't tried to drag it out or take any enjoyment from it. 

But killing his own father, breaking Leia's heart.... Poe had looked to her as a kind of substitute for his own mother when Shara had died. And although Ben had certainly been younger by a few years and awkward by anyone's estimate, Poe had in some ways looked at him like a kid brother. One he'd last seen when Ben was 13, never knowing him as an adult but he mourned him like a brother when he was reported to have died. Only to find that the kid he'd cared about had grown up to become one of the galaxy's biggest monsters. Poe's heart had broken along with Leia's.

"I'll keep this secret, General," Poe finally answered. "And I agree, they're probably not with the First Order. But he cant be trusted, we can't have them join us"

Leia sighed. "Poe, we work with heads of criminal syndicates and accept defectors into our ranks, because they can help us. Ben and Rey are trained in the Force, they could be a valuable asset to you...."

"That's different Leia," Poe practically snarled. "Your son is, or at least was, the _Supreme Fucking Leader_."

*****

Leia had given Poe something to think about, and he lay on his cot staring up at the ceiling alternately replaying the harsh words he had spoken to Leia and then remembering the young boy he had known. Thoughts of Ben Solo swirled through his head, a dark haired little boy who had followed the older Poe around the Solo compound in Hana City like a little shadow, big ears, floppy hair and that look of worship on his face that _Poe Dameron_ was nice to him. The last time they had seen each other was when a 13 year old Ben had still been awkward and gangly but with a few girls nonetheless trying to grab his attention when they realised that as the son of Alderaan's last princess he was a prince himself. Ben had ignored the girls, instead hanging out with Poe and when he didn't he fought constantly with his parents over the 3 day visit to Hana City with Luke. He'd been barely civil to his master either, and the only person he would speak politely to had been Poe.

He was still lying awake staring at the ceiling deep into the fourth watch when his door opened and Kaydel entered the room. She had been rostered to bridge the 3rd and 4th watches, and he had half expected her to go to her own quarters.

"You're still awake. I saw the light under your door."

He nodded, looking at her briefly before returning to his assessment of the ceiling. Kaydel shrugged off her uniform vest and sat down next to him, one hand resting lightly on his shoulder.

"Something tells me it's not to wait up for me though."

She smiled at him, and snuggled into Poe's side as she lay down next to him. He rolled over on to his side to look her in the eyes.

"I don't know what to think Kay."

Kaydel just looked into his deep brown eyes for a moment, and then moved to run one hand through the curls of his hair whilst kissing him seriously.

"So don't think Poe," she invited when their lips finally parted, and she moved to undo the belt of his pants. "The General's son is a problem for tomorrow. You have a problem for right now."

Poe groaned and rolled her beneath him.

*****

Rose Tico was an engineer and a mechanic, not a Comms Officer. She knew how she ended up sitting in the little corner booth of the Ops floor, listening to various broadcasts including a few secure First Order channels though - nobody else could get the damned equipment to work. The kind of thing that Rey's fingers had been so adept at fixing, Rose reflected, suddenly missing her friend fiercely. True, they had known each other barely a month, a lot of which Rose had been injured and on bed rest after Crait, but they had bonded. Rose had felt the raw ache in her heart, left by the loss of Paige, was that little bit easier to bear and she knew Rey too had felt less alone.

But Rose, unlike Finn and Poe, could understand why Rey had run away. The whispers about her powers, the expectations of others that she would be their saviour, and the hidden but deeply felt grief Rey seemed to carry after Crait. Rose had asked her once about that sadness, thinking Rey was mourning the loss of her Master, Luke. But on the contrary, Rey had simply said that she had failed at the one thing she needed to get right, and Rose had realised that the grief was more regret.

An incoming intercepted transmission suddenly shook her from her reverie, and Rose began to quickly jot down a few notes on a piece of flimsy and inputting further information on a datapad. The transmission repeated itself, and she tapped a few sequences into the console in front of her to record the message as she chewed one of her fingernails. The broadcast terminated, and she squirmed in her chair as she quickly worked out the message from the cypher code they'd obtained from the First Order prisoners Leia had brought back from Takodana. Rose tapped her fingers on the desk for a few minutes, then finally decided the information was important enough to alert someone _now_ and not in the morning.

Rose called over a junior ops officer to replace her temporarily.

"If this thing stops working again, get them to comm me" Rose nodded at the comms workstation she had been sitting at just to minutes earlier. "I'm off to talk to the generals."

*****

Leia Organa looked at the dispatch Rose had brought to her conference room, and rapidly flicked through a map to locate the area of interest. Chewie, Poe, Finn, Kaydel and Rose watched as she tried to make sense of it all, whilst BB-8 and R2D2 sat in a corner silently observing.

"I have bad feeling about this General," Poe muttered, Finn nodding his agreement.

Rose fed in the datachip, and a grainy image of a large fleet of vessels appeared alongside the map on the holoviewer. They were odd looking, similar in some ways to First Order ships, but clearly not anything they had seen before. 

Leia closed her eyes for a moment, allowing her feelings to wash over her. Darkness. Hatred. A fire that sought not just for power, dominance.... but to destroy all life that refused to bow before it. She shivered, but allowed her feelings to reach further. Visions were not something Leia had seen much of, only the odd glimpse or premonition, and she struggled to make sense of the images she saw now

"I have to agree with Poe," Leia told them. "Something far worse than the First Order. I see pain... suffering... Ben and Rey suffering."

She slumped slightly, leaning against Kaydel who helped her into a nearby seat.

"All they have suffered so far," Leia murmured. "The Force demands so much more from them still."

Chewie moaned in Shyriwook.

"I know buddy," Finn told him. "I'm worried about her too. But we don't know where she went when she left us. We can't protect her if we can't find her."

Chewie's shoulders fell, and he huffed a small moan.

*****

"OIY!" Rose screamed loudly, bringing the previously loud mess hall rumble down to a few amused twitters.

She turned to Poe, and flicked her head backwards toward the crowd.

"They're all yours Dameron."

General Organa, Finn, Kaydel and Poe were all seated one the small platform at the front of the mess hall, an empty chair awaiting Rose. She headed back to her seat as Poe rose and went to stand at the front, the thirty odd people aboard watching him intently, as were those on the dozen other ships in their convey who were watching via broadcast holo.

"General Organa has given orders for our new home base," Poe began, "and we will be jumping to hyperspace shortly to begin settling."

A relieved hum went through the crowd, tired as they all were of their extended space trip.

Poe held up one hand to signal he had more to say.

"And to confirm the rumours are true, despite our decidedly small numbers by comparison, we have dealt the First Order a decisive blow. Not only have we crippled the flagship of the Supreme Leader, but it seems the Supreme Leader himself has disappeared. We also have in custody most of the Supreme Council."

A cheer went out through the mess hall of the Tantive IV, echoed across the other vessels of the convoy. Poe smiled, waiting longer this time for silence before his face turned more serious. He motioned to Kaydel to step up to the dias with him, before stepping aside to let her speak.

"Leave it to Commander Dameron to hog all the good news," Connix began. "Unfortunately we intercepted a number of communiques last night that are concerning.

"We knew the First Order likely had a reserve fleet in the Unknown Regions, based on information we received from a hidden source in the First Order. However, it seems that whilst this fleet did come to the rescue of the Finalizer after the Battle of Batuu, during the fourth watch Comms received a series of transmissions indicating another fleet has been tracked by the First Order entering the outer Rim near Kalee. This fleet is not First Order, and carries no recognised markings."

General Organa rose to her feet, but did not come forward. Nonetheless her voice carried far enough.

"I don't know what this fleet is," the General commented, "but I can tell you it's nothing good for the galaxy. We may be about to fight a war on two fronts."

*****

BB-8 and R2D2 had come to an agreement. Whilst Poe was BB-8's master, Rey was BB-8's friend and she was in trouble; R2D2, whilst not exactly happy about Master Ben's sojourn in the First Order supposed that now that Luke Skywalker was gone he probably belonged to Master Ben. He was nothing but loyal to the Skywalkers, and Master Ben was the last of them. Princess Leia didn't really need him, she had C3PO and the humans. R2D2 hadn't exactly been actively participating in much and had mostly spent all his time since they found Ahch-To just idling around the Falcon, helping Chewbacca with occasional repairs and getting updates from BB-8 who kept coming by to see if Rey had communicated with them. 

But R2D2 had a plan. BB-8 had seen the message Ben had left for his mother, and told R2D2 that it had been recorded in hyperspace. Messages couldn't be sent or received whilst a ship was in hyperspace, unless it was to other ships also in hyperspace and in close proximity, so Master Ben would have had to send it once they entered normal space. Assuming the message was sent at the end of their trip, and they hadn't taken a second hyperspace journey, R2 could hopefully identify the coordinates from where the message was sent and determine their location.

Not a difficult thing to do, and normally the droid would assume the Resistance would have tried it already..... but Master Ben hadn't sent his message directly to the Princess but to that devious pirate Maz Kanata. Maz might not have told the Resistance the co-ordinates the message was sent from. Granted, chances of success were slim - R2D2 didn't need C3PO to calculate the odds for him, but he was used to Skywalkers and Solos beating slimmer odds - and it wasn't as though there were any better plans. He commed Chebacca with a short message to relay his plan, the Wookie appearing on the ship not long thereafter.

Two droids and a Wookie then stole the Millenium Falcon from the Resistance, and headed for Takodana.


	13. Project Vahl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We're closing in on the final chapters of our first act.

The open door to Rey's quarters shouldn't have made his heart beat so fast. After all, she could have left it open as an invitation, one of the GRC could have left it open bringing something in, and apart from the two of them, one Force ghost and a small army of strange former Imperial Stormtroopers utterly loyal to Rey they were all alone. The base was a safe place... so why was it that a door left open had left him almost fearful? Ben shook off the utterly ridiculous notion of something having happened to Rey and entered here quarters.

"Rey? You left your door open."

Ben found himself stopping at the kitchen. The remnants of their meal sat on the counter, but there was no sign of Rey.

"Rey?"

He frowned when there was no response, and made his way through the rest of the apartment to her bedroom. Rey wasn't in the apartment at all, and now Ben began to panic.

 _Rey_ , he reached out to her, but she didn't respond. Focussing his mind, he tried again.

_Rey...._

He could see her, in shadow, walking along a dark corridor. Rey had a strange dazed look on her face, as if she was listening to someone - _some thing_ \- other than Ben. 

_Rey!_

She stopped, looking around suddenly as if she had woken from a dream.

"Ben?" 

Their bond opened completely, as Rey looked back over her shoulder towards him.

"Where are you going Rey?"

Rey looked around her, not recognising her location.

"I'm not exactly sure," Rey murmured. "I don't even know how I got here...."

Ben watched as Rey turned her head away to look frward along the path she had been following.

"Wait there Rey. I'll come find you."

But it was clear now that she was hardly hearing him. Instead her head was cocked slightly and she seemed distracted.

"I can hear them Ben. They need me to find them.... I need to save them."

"Rey... who are they? Wait for me there and we can go together."

She looked down at something he couldn't see, then she turned slightly to him again.

"Project Vahl," Rey mumbled, pointing at the floor. 

Then the bond closed, and Ben couldn't feel her anymore.

Rey continued along the corridor, her brief connection with Ben all but forgotten. Vaguely, somewhere in her mind, she knew she wasn't supposed to be here. This was one of the forbidden levels, supposedly damaged and dangerous after the accident some 15 years before. But so far, that walled off section of her mind noted, there hadn't been much. Sure it was dark, with only a few of the emergency lights flickering to provide a dull light, but there wasn't anything else to see. 

On this level, she had begun to hear voices, as well as the ringing growing louder. Now, as she suddenly reached a blast door, it was as if the voices were screaming in agony.

_Help us! Save us!_

The blast door flew open, and Rey was sucked in as if an invisible hand had grabbed her and pulled her in, slamming into the dusty floor. She lay on her right side on the floor facing the door, blinking for a moment, before she sighed and her vision faded as the door closed.

*****

Ben slid on his boots as he raced into the Training Hall, almost colliding with Eighty-Four. Anakin quirked his eyebrow at his scowling grandson.

"What's Project Vahl?" Ben snarled as he grabbed on to Eighty-Four's cloak.

For the first time since they'd met, Ben noted Eighty-Four's glance at him wasn't disdain or dislike. No, this expression was _fear_.

"Whatever it is, Rey's gone after it. She's missing."

Eighty-Four looked over to Anakin. The Force ghost nodded, and Eight-Four pulled his cloak free of Ben's grasp and quickly left the room.

"This is certainly earlier than I expected," Anakin said quietly. "I'm not sure why she's called to it now."

Ben stared at the ghost of his grandfather, his jaw working as he tried not to scream in frustration. Damned Force ghosts and their secrets.

"Project Vahl was the name of the research project that went wrong here. Rey's still on the base, probably on one of those levels."

"Why? Why would she go there?"

Anakin sighed, and placed one ghostly hand on his grandson's shoulder. He motioned for Ben to walk with him, and they slowly made their way out of the room into the corridor. Anakin said nothing for the moment, and Ben began to grow impatient. Every minute he spent without an answer was a minute he wasn't finding Rey.

"Project Vahl holds many secrets, both for Rey _and_ you. If the Force has sent her there, I can only assume it is a response to something changing. I had hoped you would get your answers in the fullness of time, and have time to process them. But it seems that's not the case."

They were heading towards the lifts, and Ben noted Eighty-Four had assembled a squadron of a dozen GRC.

"Grandfather?"

Anakin sighed. "Eighty-Four will take you where you need to go."

As Ben entered the lift along with the squadron and Eighty-Four, he looked back to his grandfather. The ghost smiled sadly, then slowly faded away.

*****

Rey rolled on to her back, groaning, before she truly came back to the world. She stared at the ceiling for a few moments trying to remember how she got there.

 _I was hearing something_. She blinked. _Something calling me._

Rey turned her head to look at the blast door to her right. _Voices screaming for_ _help._

She sat up, pushing up off the floor and rising to her feet. Rey walked over to the blast door, but couldn't find any way to open it, the panel that operated it dead. Shrugging, she reached out with the Force, arm out towards the door, and closed her eyes. The door shook a little, but no more, and Rey dropped her arm with a huff.

 _Okay... so I guess I'm stuck here._

She stepped back from the door a little, and looked around the space she found herself in. It was little more than a foyer, with a couple of offices off to the side near the door, and three corridors behind her - one heading down into the darkness straight ahead from the door, and the other two at right angles to the first.

It was obvious which way she was supposed to go, with blast doors closed to her left and right but the corridor ahead unobstructed with it's blast door open. Of course, she had the option not to go anywhere - she could just sit on the floor here and try to reach Ben through the bond - but some part of her _wanted_ to go.

"This place," Rey mused aloud. "It's.... familiar."

Rey checked the saber at her hip, frowning with momentary indecision. She paced back and forth in front of the stubborn blast door, vaguely sensing Ben through the bond... he was coming for her. She could just wait for him.

But then the sound of screaming, _help us! save us!,_ seemed to echo from the darkness beyond the corridor, and Rey _knew_ she had to go now. She carefully dragged her feet through the dust towards the corridor, then stepped into the darkness beyond the corridors open blast door. It slammed shut behind her, and she was in darkness for a moment before the ceiling and wall lights in the corridor lit up with emergency lighting. 

_Somehow, I was expecting that_.

*****

Ben had no idea what floor Rey was on, and it was clear that the GRC were not certain either. They muttered numbers and letters to each other, not making any sense to Ben, until he picked out a familiar string - _GRC00110001FS_ \- that was repeated often by many of them.

Eighty-Four, as always, said nothing. Rey had explained to Ben that of all the GRC, her protector was the only one who was completely mute. Somehow she had always been able to communicate with him however, and with most of the GRC, at first by pointing to various things or exaggerated hand signals and body language. Over time, it seemed, they simply knew what the other was thinking. Not in the same way as the bond between Ben and Rey, nothing so deep or such unconscious sharing. Ben had learned from Rey that the GRC were all Force-sensitive, and it seemed that there was at least a basic level of telepathy they were all capable of.

So he wondered why the strings of letters and numbers? Why did they say anything at all?

The lifts stopped first on Level 30, and Ben stepped out with Eighty-Four and the GRC. Eighty-Four looked at him questioningly.

But Ben shook his head. "It doesn't feel right here. She's not on this floor."

Eighty-Four nodded, and looked to the squadron. He made a small beckoning motion, and three of the dozen stepped forward and separated themselves from their colleagues. Ben watched as the three men marched off down the corridor, before Eighty-Four tapped his arm and nodded towards the lift. As the doors closed, Ben noted Eighty-Fours slight frown and nod.

 _They'll check anyway, but she's not here._ Ben realised Eighty-Four was in his head.

The lift stopped almost immediately, Level 31.

Again, Ben had no sense of Rey here, and Eighty-Four separated out another three of the GRC to search the floor.

*****

The corridor was bleak, empty, apart from a thick layer of dust and something grey and fine. Ash? She occasionally encountered larger piles of the ash like material, but there was no evidence of a fire - no scorch marks on the wall, no smoke stains on the white walls and ceilings. The floor was buckled a little in places, the walls bowed outwards a little as if a huge wave of pressure had passed through the corridor, but it was otherwise intact. As Rey marched along the corridor, she continued to hear the voices crying to her for help. But there was other sounds too, confusing sounds, whispered giggles of a small child, the throaty laughter of young women.

A door shot open just ahead of Rey, and she pondered it for just a second before entering As soon as Rey stepped into the room it was as if she were through a prism. Her vision was distorted, elongated at the edges, and the light was such a blindingly bright white so that it robbed the colours of almost everything else so that only the edges of people and objects could be seen.

_Perhaps a dozen figures knelt on the floor, meditating together in a circle. In the middle sat another figure, smaller than the others and squirming in annoyance._

_"Through strength we gain power, through power we gain victory. Victory breaks our chains, and the Force sets us free."_

_The voices of the figures sound like echoes of Rey's own._

_"Can't we play instead?". It is a young girls voice, obviously bored and slightly petulant, and she hasn't joined in the chanting._

_A deep sigh comes from someone out of sight. "Subject One, please concentrate."_

Shaking her head, Rey's vision cleared, and she was back in the dark room. She raised her lighsaber, igniting it and letting the pale blue light reflect off the walls. The room was similar to the vision she had just seen, a circle of small cushions meant for kneeling, and another in the centre. The circle, she noted, was for twelve. There wasn't much else in the room - a low desk, a filing cabinet, and a lot of dust. No ash piles in here.

Rey retracted the saber, and clipped it to her belt. 

_What was that?_

Rey didn't know what it meant, but it was a distraction from her mission. Taking one final glance around the room, she stepped back out in to the corridor and continued her along her original path.

*****

Ben knew it was the right floor as soon as the stepped out onto Leven 32. It was as if he and Rey were two magnets, being drawn to each other, and Ben felt an instant pull.

"She's here," Ben breathed to Eighty-Four, "I know it."

Eighty-Four nodded agreement, but still sent three of the squad back to the lift to search level 33. He shrugged slightly at Ben.

_Better safe than sorry._

But Eighty-Four looked troubled, and his eyes staring in to Ben's held no anger or disdain.... rather, it was compassion

The last three GRC joined Ben and Eighty Four, and they began to head down the corridor in the direction Ben felt drawn to. He had continued to keep reaching out for Rey through their bond, but she was had been shutting him out. He'd caught a glimpse or two of a dimly lit corridor, but what worried him more where voices. Voices in _Rey's_ mind, and the thought of her subjected to the same sort of torment he'd suffered from voices in his own mind was unbearable. Ben breathed deeply to centre himself, and tried to compartmentalize. 

For now, all he would focus on was _finding_ Rey. He could worry about the rest of it later.

Ben almost walked passed the closed blast door, but two dual tugs stopped him. One, was that sense of magnets being drawn together, that _this_ was the way to find Rey. The other was a tug on his arm from Eighty Four who was pointing at a sign to the side of the blast door.

**_Project Vahl._ **

Ben touched the door, and it slid open despite no signs of power to the operator panel. Eighty-Four and the remaining three GRC followed Ben in to the anteroom beyond, but stopped just inside. The three other GRC began nervously uttering those same numbers and letters, _GRC00110010FS._ Eighty Four directed the GRC into the office to the left of the antechamber, then stepped forward toward the cross road of corridors. All three blast doors were closed.

Ben closed his eyes and tried to reach out for Rey. She was here, but there was no one single direction he could sense. 

"It's no good," Ben muttered, his eyes still closed and trying to reach her through the bond. "I feel here everywhere here, I can't tell if she's gone left, right, or directly ahead."

Ben open his eyes, momentarily frustrated, and stepped in to the junction of the three corridors. He looked down at the floor as he slowly turned, trying to see if he could feel something from one of the directions he was turning to. Ben considered his options as he turned - he could send Eighty-Four and the GRC down two of the corridors, and look for her alone down a third, or perhaps he could....

_There's something different here. Not a feeling, but...._

The dust on the floor was disturbed. Ben stepped back a pace, ignited his crossguard saber, and looked to the floor. There was a long, fairly straight mark in the dust were the floor could be seen, and as Ben's eyes continued forward he realised there was a huge arrow drawn on the floor. Distantly, just visible in the red light, he could see footprints... Rey's foot prints.

 _Clever girl_.

"That one," Ben told Eighty-four, quenching the saber.

Eighty-Four looked back to where he had left the GRC, then turned to Ben. Ben realised that whilst Eighty-Four was willing to go forward, the rest of the GRC were too terrified. What could have engendered so much fear in them?

"This is where it happened, isn't it?" Ben asked quietly.

Eighty-Four nodded, slightly apprehensive to be reliving what had happened here, but determined to go on.

_She needs us._

"Will they be alright?"

 _I'll send them back to the lifts_ , Eighty-Four pointed to the room where the GRC were seated. _They should be alright once they're out of this area._

The three men in the room filed out, still muttering the same numbers and letters in unison, without Eighty-Four leaving Ben's side.

"You're quite different to the others, aren't you?" Ben noted.

Eighty Four just smiled faintly, and the two men approached the blast door. Ben placed his hand against it, and reached out with the Force. After a few moments, it reluctantly ground open, allowing the two men to enter. After looking at each other for only a second, they began to run down the corridor.

*****

The room Rey had been drawn to was large. She knew it was the right place because all the voices had stopped suddenly, as had the dull ringing sound.

Her mind was finally quiet.

The room had a large viewscreen, sporting a huge spiderwebbed crack, that took up the entirety of the far wall. She noted shelves full of recording chips, a number of smaller holo-displays, a comm unit and many workstations. All of them covered in dust, those closest to the viewscreen bent and buckled.

And the piles of ash.

So many piles of ash in this room, and Rey didn't really want to think of why those piles sent chills through her.

For some reason Rey found her eyes drawn to an open area in front of the viewscreen. It was in shadow, the light here just the dim security lighting she had seen elsewhere, but there was a concentrated pile of ash there and the faint glint of metal. Rey was half drawn to it, half in fear of it, and she swallowed hard against her suddenly dry throat. She stepped back involuntarily, brushing her hand along a workstation, and the large viewscreen on the wall came to life. It was only playing static, but after a moment Rey wiped away some of the dust on the console and tried pressing a few buttons to see if she could bring anything up. A series of files appeared on the console's display screen, but as Rey leaned her right hand on the workstation's edge she ran it unseeingly across a dark stain. 

There was a sound of agonised moaning, and all of a sudden Rey felt a sticky wetness on her right hand. She raised her hand to look at it, and stared at it in horror. Her hand was covered in hot, sticky blood. The room grew bright, and she could see the blood was everywhere. It was on the floor, all over her shoes and her clothes, and all of a sudden she couldn't breath anymore as her mind took her out of the present.

_She was small, dressed in the same stiff dress, thin sandals and leather belt she wore crossing the desert. Someone has shoved her under the workstation, trying to hide her from view, but she can hear many feet pounding on the durasteel floor and the sound of blasters and screaming from far away, but coming closer._

_She's frightened, and though some of the things she's experienced in her short life haven't been entirely pleasant, up until now she's never been truly frightened before._

_Tears start to fall down her face, and she reaches out with her mind._ Where are you?

 _The others answer in unison, a single voice split across a dozen echoes._ We're coming.

Rey slumped to the floor, gasping for breath.

_Ben... Ben.... help me.... please._

She felt him, a bright star in the darkness, but oh so far away.

_Rey, sweetheart, hold on. I'm coming._

Rey dragged herself upright, pulling herself up using the workstation countertop. When she finally stood, she stared at the surface. It was stained with something dark and she realised it was blood, the same blood she had just seen all over her hands.... except now the liquid sticky blood was gone. Instead, there were dark bloodstains everywhere, on almost every surface. The floor, the workstations, the desks. Just as she had just seen in her vision. The viewscreen had begun playing something, like a reflection of the room she stood in now it was a recording, split into 4 views, angles from camera in the room - one in the ceiling, and one on each of the three main entrances to the room. 

Even with the large cracks in the screen, the images were clear. A room full of men and women caught at their workstations, caught in the middle of a battle. The GRC, younger looking and not in ragged cloaks but the crisp uniforms of an active military, fighting against a small army of dark cloaked fighters in armour carrying melee weapons such as vibro-swords, staffs, and a few with red-bladed light sabers. Their faces were hidden, and they were humanoid in shape, but definitely not _human_ , being a little too tall and moving in a way that wasn't quite right. _Alien_ in a way Rey hadn't seen before, and although she certainly hadn't seen every species in the galaxy she'd worked her way through a fair chunk of the base's database. 

The room was full of officers, not just GRC but project workers, and Rey could see the circulation workstation where the child in her vision had hidden. A woman standing at the console was pointing a blaster at one of the attackers, and Rey watched in horror as the woman slumped at her console, a large knife thrown by one of the dark robed figures buried in her chest.

The recording suddenly froze, the screen half filled with waves of static, and Rey glanced around the room as she stood in it and compared it to what she had seen on the viewer.

The piles of ash.... so many. No sign of fire, yet ash everywhere, and in places it couldn't fall naturally. Most of them in the midst of the blood stains. The pile beside the console exactly where the woman in the recording had fallen.

The piles of ash... they were _bodies_. And there were so many.

A familiar sound and pressure on the back of her skull, and Ben was looking at her. The Force had bridged the distance between them again.

"Ben." she whispered to him, desperately. "Ben I've been here before... Something terrible happened here."

He reached out to touch her face. "Stay still, don't touch anything. _Please_. Eighty-Four and I are coming for you."

"I have to know," Rey whispered, and she reached out to slam her hand down on the console as he grabbed at her wrist too late. 

The viewscreen played on, and though Ben couldn't see the screen, through the bond he had the odd sensation of seeing flashes of what she could. They didn't make any sense to him - a small army of cloaked figures, a small child held up by her hair and squealing in fright. And... _Snoke_. Younger, not scarred as he was when Ben had first met him, and laughing arrogantly at the small child squirming in his grasp.

A sudden movement of her hand against his warned him. Ben watched helpless as Rey's eyes rolled back in her head and she began to jerk. She slipped from his hand as her body began to seize, and the connection between them closed as Rey fell.


	14. Subject One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey lays unconscious as she remembers, but Ben is the one who pieces the story together.

Rey's body seized, falling to the floor and her body jerking as her brain was overwhelmed by the sudden exposure to memories that had been locked away for more than a decade and a half.

_She is still hidden under the console, even though she can see everything going on as if she is floating above the room looking down on the carnage in the room. Its as if she is in two bodies at the same time - Rey, watching everything from above and assessing it all, and the small child she is in this... vision? Memory?_

_The woman who hid her, her name is Nala Beruni, and she is one of the nice ones who always smiles at her even if most of the people here aren't allowed to talk to her. Nala had grabbed her when the intruders burst through the door, shoving the small child under the worktop of her station and hissing at her to keep quiet._

_The others are nearly here, she can feel them just by the east corridor, coming from the Medbay. But the knowledge doesn't dampen her fear by much, because from the south corridor she can sense a terrible darkness. Part of it calls her, croons to her, but the voice of light she feels inside her sometimes steadies her and warns her not to listen._

_A dozen pairs of feet in quick march enter the room from the east corridor, and she looks down at them. A dozen lithe and wiry young women, in dark pants that conform to the legs and move with them, dark tunics of a similar material with long sleeves. Panels of lightweight armour wrap their arms and leg, and to the bodiless Rey floating above them all it reminds her of her the wraps she used to wear on her arms._

_But the most shocking thing is the identical faces, chestnut brown hair in a familiar three bun style, and hazel eyes, they all look like her. A dozen armoured adult Rey's, and they are all sporting lightsabers of such a pale blue hue they are almost white._ The Others _._

_The attackers hiss at them, and separate themselves into two groups, one to keep massacring the room and one to directly engage the women. Sabers clash against sabers and melee weapons of beskar and other saber-resistant materials. Still, the Others are highly trained and although not strong in the Force their bonds to each other and the girl give them an advantage._

_Under the console, she is still trembling, knowing something worse is coming for them. For her._

*****

Ben and Eighty-Four raced through the open blast door into the large room, the enormous viewscreen crackling with static. Ben wanted to sob as he squatted beside Rey, still now but unresponsive to his voice as he called her name. One of his large hands reached down to span her forehead, trying to get a sense of her mind. There was too much going through her brain for him to see clearly, too much for his mind to join hers as he was used to, and Ben had the distinct impression Rey was seeing many different things at once. It was overwhelming her brain, and Ben worried it might permanently harm her. 

Ben pulled Rey into his arms, rocking her for a moment as he tried to calm his own panic, before standing up so that she lay with her shoulders under his right arm and her knees under his left. Ben couldn't help remember that it was exactly the same way he had first held her, kidnapping her from the forest on Takodana. He rolled her against his chest to pull her tighter to him.

Still holding her, Ben turned towards a sudden large crackle from the viewscreen. His mouth dropped in shock at what he saw. On the screen was _Snoke,_ younger and unscarred but nonetheless it was his old Maser, standing before a dozen women all wearing Rey's face as they formed a ring at the front of the room. They were protecting something or someone inside that ring, but the screen suddenly died as Eighty-Four's fingers danced across one of the consoles Rey had been lying between.

*****

_Her earliest memory starts with Arlen. His uniform jacket is stiff and itchy, but as soon as he realises how much she doesn't like it he unbuttons it and she settles more comfortably against the uniform dress shirt beneath as he carries her through the wide corridor followed by a large number of uniformed men. She's so small she still falls a lot when she walks, which is probably why he is carrying her. Most of her memories of this time are only vaguely formed, but the important notes of this memory are clear._

_Eventually, they reach a large room filled with tanks full of fluid. Dr Orla and Dr Joffee are standing at the front of the room, and Arlen sighs softly so that only she can hear._

_"Okay Starshine," he says brightly, "Dr Joffee has something special to show you."_

_She turns her head to look over her shoulder, but refuses to unclamp her arms from around Arlen's neck._

_"Don't coddle her Commander," Dr Orla says testily. "Subject One is a weapon not a child."_

_But she is a child, and has the same need for affection any child needs. Dr Orla and Dr Joffee ensure she has the basic needs for survival - food, water, warmth, a safe place to sleep, security. Even things to play with and learn from, but not affection._

_Still, she has learned that Dr Orla and Dr Joffee can inflict pain, and she's scared enough of Dr Orla especially to reluctantly unclasp her arms and whisper to Arlen to put her down. She doesn't let go of his hand though, despite Dr Orla's scowl._

_Although the Empire had fallen more than a decade ago, Dr Orla still dresses the part. Dr Orla is a tall thin woman with raven black eyes and hair that is starting to grey, wearing the dark shirt, pants and knee high boots of a senior Imperial Officer. She absolutely hates Dr Orla, who has no compassion at all. Dr Joffee is shorter, wears more casual canvas pants and an open neck shirt, and his lab coat is rumpled and hangs off one shoulder slightly. His warm blond hair is too long for an officer, and his blue eyes are sparkling and warm. She wants to like Dr Joffee, he always speaks to her with some kindness, but he is also the one who puts the needles in her and she associates him with pain._

_Still, she smiles slightly back at him when he smiles at her and lets Arlen lead her to him. When Dr Joffee holds out his hand, she looks up at Arlen and he nods slightly, so she timidly lets Dr Joffee take her hand but still clings to Arlen with her other one. It's enough to make Dr Joffee smile broadly though, and together he and Arlen turn her to look out over the tanks._

_She notices the tanks are filled with_ people _. The hair of each is floating, and their arms are crossed with a hand on each shoulder, but they are clearly naked in the tanks. And to her eyes they are all identical._

_"Subject One," Dr Joffee tells her, his smile broad, "these are generation two. In a way, they are your family."_

_She blinks slowly, but behind the confused looking eyes she has rapidly determined two things. The first is that the girls in the tank, like her, are not free individuals but experiments. The second is that whilst the girls floating in the tank appear to be asleep, their minds are awake, and they are reaching out to her. She can_ hear _them._

*****

Ben, Rey held in his arms and against his chest, watched Eighty-Four walk towards the circle of ash piles and kneel for a moment in the middle. There was almost a reverence to his pose, two fingers of each hand pressed lightly to the floor as he knelt, head bowed. After a few moments, Eighty-Four lifted his hands off the floor and slowly raised himself to his full height. He tore of a section of his ragged cloak and let it fall to the floor, and the Ben _felt_ the ripple in the force as Eighty-Four reached one hand out. He slowly turned , the hilts of the light sabers rising up from the piles of ash before drifting over and dropping on to the ragged fragment of fabric.

Ben had never seen Eighty-Four overtly use the Force, but what stuck him wasn't the demonstration but the intense feeling of grief the man made no effort to hide and the tears that streaked down his face. It was almost a relief when Eighty-Four breathed in deeply and finally blocked his emotions from Ben, before squatting and tying up the bundle with a large knot that he could hold in his hand.

Eighty-Four walked back to them, and though he shared none of his thoughts with Ben he looked fondly at the woman in Ben's arms for a moment before he took her loose arm and reach up to wrap it around Ben's neck and make her more comfortable before finally patting her elbow gently.

Eighty-Four lead the way out of the room by a different corridor, Ben carrying Rey and following closely behind.

*****

 _The memory of the growth tanks might be her oldest clear memory, but even before that there is a presence in her mind that has always been there. Mostly it is silent, a part of her that_ isn't _her, and she thinks there is also a part of her that seems to exist somewhere else too._

 _Mostly it's just dull and muted feelings - loneliness, despair, anger, and sometimes the rare but beautiful joy. Sometimes she goes to bed at night and dreams as if she is in a body that isn't hers, seeing with eyes and hearing with ears that are not hers._ _She sees a man, sandy blond hair going grey, wielding a green saber that clashes with a blue one yielded by the hands that are not hers over and over, not fighting so much as.... learning. The hands that are not hers reaching out, making things move, floating in a pool of water, writing a note, or reading from a book._ _The first time she_ hears _the voice, it is reading the words of a book. Not aloud, but directly into her mind._

_And she reaches out with her own mind, as she dreams, and asks a question._

_"Can you teach me to read too?"_

_The voice is tremulous, a little scared. "Who are you!"_

*****

*****

_Curled up in her little hiding space, Subject One hears the chilling voice of the creature who has come to rain death on the base. One of the scientists, an older man who asks her questions every month and tells her she is much smarter than everyone else, is floating in the air. The scientist is screaming in pain, as the evil one asks him questions in a calm, dangerous voice._

_"Where is she? I grow tired of asking nicely, and I will rip the information from your very mind."_

_She shudders under the desk. Everyone else in the room, foes and allies alike, are frozen in place as he focusses on the doctor._

_"I don't know where they've hidden her," the man gasps, "and I don't understand why you want her! The Project is a failure!"_

_There is a chilling laugh._

_"You think_ your _failure to copy her makes her worthless?"_

_She is terrified now, and her fear only magnifies when the creature drops his victim who makes a sickening thump as he hits the floor. A sudden pain roars through her scalp as a long arm reaches down and yanks her from beneath the console by her hair. She kicks and squeals as she dangles at the end of his reach, and he laughs his chilling laugh._

_*****_

Ben, Rey still in his arms, and Eight-Four were along in the lift as they headed upwards to their residential level. The squadron of GRC had clearly left the forbidden levels ahead of them, waiting for them just outside the lift doors, and Ben heard the familiar whispers of letters and numbers as he pushed through them carrying Rey. There was brief hush as Eighty-Four emerged, carrying the bundle of sabers, then their voices became louder, distressed.

 _Knowing the truth isn't the same as seeing the proof_ , Ben heard Eighty-Four, referring the sabers.

Part of Ben acknowledged their grief, but the conscious part of his mind cared only to get Rey to her quarters and settle her comfortably. Her failure to respond to him, to the gentle touch of his mind against hers nor to the touch of his hand on her shoulder as he held her to him, was beginning to incite a dreadful fear in Ben.

_I can't lose her. I couldn't survive it._

It seemed only a moment between the lift and Rey's quarters, Ben's long legs carrying him to the door in far fewer strides than Eighty-Four could normally manage, yet somehow the man had managed to get ahead of him. Ben strode in through the open door to find LD had pulled back the thick quilt on her Rey's bed and request a med droid from the base's medical facility.

"We have no medical personnel anymore," LD informed him, "but the med droids are very capable and one will be here shortly."

Ben only nodded his understanding as he lay Rey down, crouching down beside the bed to watch her. So strong, despite her current state. So beautiful.

Desperately, Ben reached out to hold her hand, and as they touched the bond flooded open and Ben saw the memory Rey was reliving.

*****

_Her scalp is burning as he holds her up by her hair. She writhes against his hold, baring her teeth at him and hissing like a angry loth-cat, but he merely laughs contemptuously at her._

_"In time, you will call me_ Master. _I have you, and I have begun to corrupt your counterpart. My power will be complete when both halves bow before me."_

_Ä strange sense of calm overcomes her and she stops struggling. But she is not giving in, accepting a dark fate as he assumes. Instead, she lets something more powerful than herself take control, reaching out and accessing the Force._

_He is still laughing as a filing cabinet flies across the room from behind him, slamming against the back of his skull before careening off into the upper portion of the view screen. The screen cracks in a spiderwebbing pattern from the point of impact whilst the cabinet crashes to the floor and tumbles into the corner._

_The dark one drops her and she lands lightly on her feet like a cat. Temporarily stunned, he has let go of his hold on the others in the room, and Arlen is already moving towards her. B_ _lood is trickling from a cut over his brow but he is otherwise uninjured as scoops her up in one swift movement. In seconds they have slid to the floor behind the Others, and then they are surrounded by a protective ring formed by the twelve as Arlen kneels and holds her close._

_The dark one has risen to his feet._

_"Such insolence! I will enjoy breaking you, girl."_

_The twelve Others raise their sabers as their attackers stalk around them. The officers in the room have been ignored for a concentrated attack on the circle. The Others fight off the first parries, but she knows it is only a matter of time. There are simply too many._

_She hears the Others in her mind, and even though her eyes are closed and she is trying to shut out the noise of fighting, she_ feels _when the first one falls as if the blade has gone through her own belly. The pain is gone in an instant, but so is one of the twelve voices that have been with her for most of her life. Another falls, and then another._

_His laughter is what breaks her control. Something has been building inside her, a white hot heat, and as the lightsabers of the twelve have fallen to the floor, their blades extinguished, the heat spreads from her chest and her mind, stretching out to her fingertips. The last of the Others falls and fades from her mind, and suddenly she is no longer Subject One but something else. Her eyes open and she stares at the dark one who is no longer laughing. She sees fear in his eyes._

_"That's not possible," he gasps, and then he flees the room._

_It's too late now. She cannot stop the power that flows through her finger tips. Arlen clings to her, holding her tight as she release it with an inhuman scream. And then, nothing._

*****

Ben released her hand with a sudden gasp. Though she was still, frequent flickers of eye movement under closed lids told Ben that Rey was still trapped in the avalanche of memories.

How had Snoke even known of her existence? What did he even want with her? He came to the base to try and capture her, a child! 

Snoke, if it really was him, had mentioned two halves, and spoken about the corruption of one of them. Could he have been referring to Ben, and to the bond he shared with Rey? What was this connection between them, that Snoke had claimed in the throne room to have forged himself?

A thought crossed his mind. When Kylo Ren had told Snoke of his failure to draw the location of Skywalker from Rey's mind, had Snoke known who she was already? He thought back to the moment, and Snoke's response _The Scavenger resisted_ YOU!

Snoke had been furious with Kylo… but thinking back Snoke did not seen all that surprised. If anything, there was just the faintest suggestion his former Master had been... afraid.

And on the Supremacy... well he had been willing enough to have Rey turned and trained with Kylo, yet her defiance had enraged him. Snoke's desire to have Kylo kill her, to waste such a potential asset to the First Order, wasn't exactly the most strategic move to make. It was almost as if Snoke was afraid of her.

It made sense, if his interrogation had awakened Rey, that Snoke would have feared her. After all, hadn't Ben already seen the evidence of Snoke being defeated by a not even five years old Rey?

 _Both halves,_ Ben mused. It triggered a vague memory of something he had heard or read, something he thinks Snoke might have mentioned almost in passing during Ben's training. His thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of the Med-droid. 

Reluctantly, at Eighty-Four's gentle tugging, he left Rey with the medroid and LD to join Eighty-Four in the kitchen. The mute handed him a cup of tea, which led Ben to think of his mother again, before Eighty-Four retired a canvas satchel that was sitting on one of the armchairs. Ben peered in to the bag to find Eighty-Four had been to Ben's quarters and brought back a change of clothes and a few toiletries. Ben stared at him for a moment, but received only a shrug and then a brief thought in return.

_It's not as though you're going to leave her side now._

*****

_She woke up on the sharply angled Star Destroyer wreck, her hair wet and sticky and matted with her own blood, and a sharp burning ache in her shoulder where something had cut through her rags and into her back. The ship Unkar Plutt had set her to scavenge. The component she grabbed before she fell is still clenched in her hands, and she hopes it will be enough to earn her a place as one of his scavengers for good, not just when it suits him to use someone small._

_The way the ship fell when it crashed in to the desert is an oddly precarious angle - upside down but with the nose of it driven far into the sands. Its a steep angle, so she has slid some distance from where she fell, and as she rolls herself to the side to relieve the pain in her shoulder she realises by the trail of blood that her shoulder was sliced open by a jagged piece of metal in what had once been the ceiling of the room._

_She's been unconscious long enough for the blood to have stopped flowing, more or less anyway since it oozes a little now that she's moved and there's no pressure on the wounds. But she has her prize, and even if she isn't the first one back with their haul, the value of this item should guarantee her position. And maybe some bacta._

_Unkar has left, as have the others, but she'll make it to Niima Outpost by dawn if she starts moving now. It's going to be a cold night though._

_She's not sure what leads her to wander off her intended path. But after a few hours she realises her body has taken her a little further east than she intended, although certainly not lost she needs to head more northwards now to get back to where she needs to go. She's about to turn north, when she sees something glinting in the moonlight. The winds have shifted the sand laying over the wing of a small vessel, and she decides to approach it._

_It's a small fighter vessel, with markings she recognises as the old Rebel Alliance. The single seat vessel is a buried X-wing, and it is empty save for the abandoned helmet of the pilot._

Dosmit Raeh.

_She picks it up, and immediately sees a battle in space, over Jakku. The last battle this helmet ever saw. She's not sure if she's imagining it or she really sees something, but it's fascinating to her and she takes it with her as well as her component from the Star Destroyer._

_By morning, she is thirsty, hungry, and slightly delirious from fever as infection begins to set into her wounds. But Unkar is pleased with what she brings him, and not only does he agree to let her scavenge the wrecks instead of selling her on again, he also gives her the bacta she needs for her wound and portions enough for a week._

_But as a scavenger, she needs a name. So instead of "Girl", Unkar takes his cue from the helmet._

_"Keep bringing me stuff like this Rey," Unkar tells her, waving the piece she retrieved from the Star Destroyer._

*****

When Kylo Ren had taken the scavenger from Takodana, her sleep had not lasted this long. The broken dam against her hidden memories had been a landslide of memory in it's initial flood but had it caused her permanent harm? 

The Med-droid had informed them there was nothing to indicate she was in danger, Rey would wake when she was ready. It had, however, taken a sample of her blood and informed them it had identified her as "Subject One". It was information that did not seem to surprise Eighty-Four, and Ben narrowed his eyes as he realised the GRC and quite likely Anakin himself had known _exactly_ who (and what?) Rey was but had not told her. He was sure they would have some sort of _justification_ for not being forthcoming with her, but Ben scheduled confronting them for a later date and decided to simply focus on Rey for the moment.

Ben sat with her again, this time sitting cross legged on the bed beside her as he held her hand. She looked so beautiful Ben thought his heart might break. He just needed her to wake up so he could tell her how much he needed her. How much he loved her, and would never love anyone else the same way. He knew she was aware of it, that she shared those feelings at least to some extent, but he also knew those words needed to spoken. She needed to hear him say it, over and over again, and _oh_ how he needed to hear her say them too.

Just three short days before, Kylo Ren had died by his own saber and Ben Solo had been reborn. He'd gone from a man driven crazy by ghosts and loneliness, to a man in love and with so much hope in his heart. It was all her doing, Rey had saved him, but without her Ben knew the broken, empty shell of Kylo Ren could so easily rear it's ugliness again.

He stroked a finger across the back of her hand, and was grateful for the vision it gave him. A simple one, of Rey curled in his lap in one of the chairs in her quarters, Ben reading aloud from a book. She kissed his neck as he read, and snuggled against him as she began to drift off to sleep.

Tired, he lay next to her on his side with his chin resting on her shoulder as he wrapped his arm around her protectively. It wasn't long before he was asleep too.

*****

_"Who are you?"_

__The memory makes her shiver, a sense of deja vu._ _

__Someone asked her this question again, so much more recently, and it inspired the same internal questions -__ who am I, what am I, _and the elusive_ what is my place in all this?

_Why is she connected to this voice, this other person. This... boy? For she somehow knows it is a boy, much older than her yet still in many ways a child._

_Subject One had never met another child, unless you count the Others. They emerged from their tanks fully grown, and imprinted with vast knowledge, they are quite child like in many ways but are not "children". And she's certainly never met a_ boy. 

_For his part, the boy is suspicious and mistrusting. It seems he has plenty of friends in his mind, although she is apparently the nicest one he seems to think she's waiting to say something mean or awful. He also tells her to shut up a lot, apparently she asks far too many questions and is terribly distracting. And far too childish._

_Somehow neither wants to give their name to the other... she's not sure how to explain her designation means she's not a real person, and he simply doesn't trust any of the voices in his head. So they just call each other "Boy" and "Girl"._

_*****_

Ben woke slowly, in small increments as his body slowly became aware. Someone was massaging his scalp and working their fingers through his hair, just as Leia used to do to calm him when he was an upset child. But he hadn't seen his mother in so long. Full awareness came suddenly then, and Ben opened his eyes to find that somehow in their sleep she had turned toward him. A small smile was on her face as her fingers still played with his hair.

"Hello Ben."

Maker, if he wasn't glad to hear her voice, to hear her say his name.

"Rey," Ben sighed, his voice breaking slightly.

She continued to stare at him, massaging his scalp, her hazel eyes dark with so many unspoken thoughts and feelings. Sorrow, loss, confusion. Remembering something her mind had locked away for so long brought her certain answers, but he could sense they had only lead to further questions.

"Rey..."

"I'm not sure that's actually my name," she chuckled slightly. "But you do like to say it."

He squeezed her arm gently and looked at her imploringly. "Rey...…I, I wouldn't survive you leaving me again."

Rey's fingers stopped in his hair. "Ben...."

"I know... I'm sure you know how I feel..."

Ben felt his chest constrict and most of his breath leave him as he thought about a life _with_ her. He wanted it so much.

"Rey, I need to say it. I love you. I know what I am, and what I've done... I know it isn't fair to say this to you, but I.... I couldn't survive if anything happened to you."

Rey tugged on his hair, pulling him gently until he brought his face to hers. Ben sought her eyes, shiny now with moisture although she wasn't crying. Their lips were almost touching, and he swallowed hard against his painfully constricted throat.

" _Ben_ ," Rey smiled. "I love you too."


	15. Two Who Are One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I was going to wait for the smut but hey, Rey's had a rather traumatic experience and Ben's been a very good boy....

The first night, wanting to respect what he thought might be Rey's need for space, he had announced after dinner that he was going back to his own quarters to sleep. Only to feel her toss and turn restlessly most of the night through the bond, until she finally fell in to an unsettled sleep and he too could sleep. A sleep that did not last long, as she woke screaming and sobbing barely an hour later. The panic that Rey experienced left her feeling as though she were dying, the sudden opening of their bond flooding Ben with the same panic and he had raced in to her room truly afraid that she _was_ dying.

She sobbed incoherently as Ben rocked her soothingly, peppering her forehead and temples with small, gentle kisses. Promising her she wasn't alone, that he loved her, that he would never leave her, and he would keep her safe. Her sobs had finally eased, and he laid her down to sleep, but the moment he tried to leave her bed she grabbed a hold of his wrist and refused to let go.

"You promised you wouldn't leave me," Rey accused.

And what was he to do? Neither of them had slept well without the other, even before they had found Project Vahl. And he hardly wanted to be separated from her, even if she was just a durasteel wall away. His attempt to give her space to process everything had only left her feeling rejected and confused, Ben realised through their bond. He'd told her he loved her, and only a few hours later left her alone when she was vulnerable. So despite not entirely trusting his own body (and in truth his physical reaction to her had paid a part in his decision to sleep in his own quarters), he would hold her all night if that's what it took for her to sleep peacefully.

But the aftermath of all she had experienced weighed on them both, Rey unwilling to face the training hall or any of the GRC. She refused to leave her quarters, hid in her meditation room or pretended to sleep when Eighty-Four came to check on her, and if Ben didn't sit with her at each meal and supervise her she wouldn't be eating either. 

Ben recognised all the signs, having spent most of the last six months in a spiral of depression, despair and madness of his own. He was afraid to confront her, worried he might make things worse, yet also aware of how low he had sunk and terrified she would reach the same sort of depths he had. Apart from taking a run twice a day whilst Rey slept, he didn't leave her alone. He simply didn't think it was safe, especially the first few days when she largely kept him out of her side of their shared bond, but couldn't quite hide the dark emotions that swirled through her. Rey still clung to him in her sleep each night. She tossed and turned without him, but the moment he lay beside her she would instinctively turn into him and immediately calm, and in those moments before Ben too fell into slumber he felt grateful that he could give her some measure of comfort even if he couldn't take away her pain. 

It was on the fourth night that he came awake suddenly, realising she was awake and unable to keep the bond closed in her distress. Rey clung to him tighter than ever, tears soaking his thin sleep shirt, breaths coming in short gasps she could not control. Ben hated to see her cry, hated that he had so often been the cause of it, but this.... _despair_ was something he felt powerless to take away.

"Rey. Sweetheart, tell me what's wrong."

A horrible sound, like a wounded animal, rose from her chest. "I killed them, Ben. They died because of me."

Images of the battle in the Project room, where Snoke and his army had come to claim the child Rey had been, flashed though their shared connection. The power released by a small child, that had spread outwards.... in it's wake bodies turned to ash, dead or alive. Only the living with a connection to the Force had survived - most of the GRC - yet the physical damage to the project levels was minimal. And then, after she had crossed the desert, the ship she had inadvertently destroyed when she had been abandoned.

"You were just a child, Rey. It wasn't like you meant to do it."

Rey sniffled. "You don't know that. I was so afraid, on the base, maybe that's forgiveable. But the ship, when they abandoned me, that was.... anger. I killed them because I was angry they left me!"

Ben kissed her hair gently. "You had just been through a terrible trauma." He knew it to be the truth. "You didn't now what you were doing."

Rey breathed deeply, and seemed to calm somewhat, but her tears continued to fall.

"I spent my childhood waiting for parents I didn't even have. I'm not a person, I'm nothing, nobody, just an experiment."

He had been reading the datapad Eighty-Four had left them, and had been able to gather some of the basics regarding the project and Rey's early life. But before he told her anything else, there was one thing he needed to make very clear with her.

"Rey, you _are_ a person. You are _my_ person," Ben affirmed possessively. "You are my opposite, my equal, the other half of me. Not just in the Force, but _everything_. You are _everything_ to me. I tried to tell you that once, after Snoke… I wasn't very good with my words but even then my soul recognised yours."

Apart from the occasional sniffle, Rey had grown silent listening to him. And Ben _needed_ to keep going.

"Even before Starkiller, we were somehow connected. When I joined the Knights... when I joined _Snoke_ , I began to forget it. All the voices in my head, my whole life, not all of them were dark. Somehow, you were there too. When Snoke began to train me, I forgot you for a while. But when we met again, I knew you."

"I knew you too," Rey murmured back to him with a sleepy sigh.

He leaned his head forward to kiss the top of her hair. "I've been reading more about the project. Eighty-Four dropped off a datapad, but you didn't seem to want to see him. Do you want to read it now?"

Rey shook her head.

"Can you just tell me," she whispered, "tell me anything you think I need to know? I don't want to know things like who died when Snoke came. Who died to protect me, or who I killed or... any of it. I'm not ready to know that Ben. I trust you to tell me what I need to know for now."

Ben pulled Rey up the bed so that her face was level with his own so that he could kiss her. After a brief moment of resistance she opened her mouth as his tongue pressed against the seam of her lips, and then Ben was exploring her mouth, soothing and dominating all at once. Eventually, they broke for air and he pulled her tight to him again with a sigh. Exhausted, Rey tucked her head into his shoulder, and she finally began to feel sleepy again as Ben rubbed soothing circles into her spine.

"Just remember Sweetheart," Ben murmured against her ear, "none of it was your fault. You were so young, and he was trying to take you."

As she drifted off to sleep her last though was of Snoke's words as the small child she had been writhed against his grasp in her hair.

_I have begun to corrupt your counterpart. My power will be complete when both halves bow before me._

*****

Ben was quite certain Rey wasn't _okay_ , as she claimed to be, but he knew she was feeling better when she not only got out of bed the next morning without any urging on his part but actually ate breakfast without the need for him to coax her into it. Still in their sleep clothes, she settled across from him at the table and began to place a few items on her plate from the platters in front of them.

She smiled at him as she nibbled on the pastries and fruit LD had prepared, Ben having finally given in to the annoying protocol droids insistence on fulfilling it's duty in order to spend more time watching over Rey. 

"Do you want to go to the training hall today?"

Rey shook her head slowly at Ben, "I think I'd like to go for a run with you. But not the hall. I can't face them yet."

"The GRC?"

Rey nodded, popping another piece of fruit into her mouth as her eyes grew distant with thought.

"You know they practically worship you?" Ben offered.

Rey stared at him, and Ben reached one hand across the table to twine his fingers in one of her hands. He squeezed them gently and encouragingly.

"When Eighty-Four and I brought you up from the Project rooms, they were all whispering and trying to touch you. They seemed quite worried about you. Maybe you could come up for just a little while, let them see you are okay?"

She cocked her head thoughtfully, chewing slowly on the same piece of fruit. Finally she nodded slightly.

"A few minutes," Rey finally agreed. "But I don't want to train today."

"Whatever you want, Sweetheart"

*****

When Rey and Ben stepped out of her apartment to take a run, dressed in dark tank tops, soft running shoes, and stretchy skin tight pants that allowed for maximum movement, the GRC were waiting to get a glimpse of Rey. Whispering, some trying to reach out and touch her as she passed. Ben was right, they seemed to be reassured to see her alive and well, but Rey found the attention more than a little overwhelming.

"They just want to know you're ok," Ben had reassured her as they stretched and warmed up before leaving the apartment.

Rey began to jog, eager to get away from the attention. Ben easily matched her pace, his longer legs easily keeping up, watching her carefully to assess how the past week of relative inactivity had impacted her. After a few minutes, when they had passed the lifts and shifted into the long corridor that run perpendicular to the main one, Rey shifted into a run suddenly. She laughed as she pulled ahead, Ben surprised by the sudden spurt of speed. He easily lengthened his own strides to lope after her.

And damned if he couldn't help but smile at the realisation that, despite everything she'd been through, Rey was going to be okay. He couldn't live without her.

When their run brought Ben and Rey to the training hall, she had half expected to see Anakin in the training hall, but it seemed her ghostly Master had been making himself rather conveniently absent. Instead Eighty-Four was kneeling in meditation on the sparring mat, a tied bundle before him. They were otherwise alone, the rest of the GRC either having seen Rey on the residential floor, or otherwise occupied elsewhere on the base.

Rey stared at the bundle - whispers seemed to reach Rey's ears from whatever lay inside, and she swallowed hard and tried to shake it off, afraid something was about to happen as it had when she'd been called to the Project levels.

"I hear it too," Ben muttered quietly. "It's the sabers, I think."

_The sabers?_

Eighty-Four opened his eyes and looked at Rey with what only could be considered relief. He motioned the two of them to sit beside him, and once they had dropped to the mat - Rey relatively gracefully whereas Ben flopped with all the grace of a falling happabore - Eighty-Four began to open the bundle.

Twelve silver hilts, near identical yet recognisably individual, lay on the remnant of Eighty-Four's old ragged cloak. Even if each hadn't some small mark to distinguish it from the others, Rey could hear the individual song of each kyber crystal within. Each voice slightly different, and yet the song they sang all the same.

 _These were the sabers of your sisters,_ Eighty-Four spoke silently _. Their crystals belong to you now._

Rey lifted on of the sabers, balancing it in her hand. The crystal within reached out to her, recognising her unique connection to it's former master, and it's previous knowledge of Rey herself.

 _They willingly laid down their lives to protect you,_ Eighty Four continued. _Not because that was what they were made for, but because they loved you. Don't dishonour their sacrifice by blaming yourself._

She nodded, refusing to let the tears that formed behind her eyelids fall. Though she still barely remembered the twelve clones who had been her guardians, she remembered the bond they had shared. Though it did not compare the bond she shared with Ben, in a way they had been family. And it suddenly hit her. The bond she shared with Ben surpassed all other connections she had ever shared. They weren't just two people randomly connected, they were two parts of a greater whole. Each other's half. _Soulmate_.

Eighty-Four continued to look at her expectantly, a faint smile on his lips as if he had been privy to Rey's sudden realisation. But he made no comment on it, merely redirecting her back to the sabers.

_I can't tell you what to do, but I would recommend focusing on the stones and leaving the weapons themselves as memories. You should build a weapon that suits your own skillset._

She could make her new sabers from these crystals, with plenty to spare. And Ben... he could have Anakin's old saber, or build his own new one from the crystals that remained. Or was she assuming too much? Would he still want to wield his unstable red blade, that wept and screamed pain whenever it was ignited?

Ben reached out a hand to wrap his fingers reassuringly around hers. "Show me how you healed Anakin's blade. I want to try to heal my own crystal. Then, when you're building your new sabers, I can try to rebuild mine."

Eighty-Four nodded approvingly, and then retied the bundle before handing it to Rey. _I'm so pleased you decided to see me, Starshine._

As she took the bundle from Eighty-Four, something in his unspoken words made her shiver slightly.

"Come on Sweetheart," Ben, who had by now already clambered to his feet, was holding out a hand to help her to her feet. "We could both use a shower and something to eat. You've had a busy morning."

She didn't fail to notice he didn't let go of her hand as the walked together out of the hall. 

*****

Although Ben had cooked for them both on several occasions now, it was the only the second time she had watched him and Rey was in awe of the process as he moved around her kitchen barefoot in a pair of loose dark pants and a thin, short sleeved undershirt of similar colour. Rey herself wore a simple loose grey shift dress, leaving her damp hair to dry, but unlike Ben she's decided to keep her feet warm with a pair of soft grey slippers, and she sat in the tall stool on the other side of the kitchen island, feet dangling lazily as she watched Ben cook. 

She'd mostly lived on rations on Jakku, only ever having real meat on the few occasions she'd captured one of the small desert reptiles. She'd had fish whilst on Ahch-To, and meat had occasionally appeared in the mess hall during her month long stint with the Resistance, but until she came to the Jakku base it hadn't been something she was particularly familiar with. It certainly wasn't something she knew how to cook, not that she could cook anything really (she would have starved without LD these past months). She watched him with fascination as he cut thin, delicate slices of bantha meat, before setting it to sizzle in a deep pan. Not long thereafter, he added an assortment of different vegetables he had cut whilst she was showering, explaining the different timing of each in relation to how quickly they would cook. Various spices, a small jar of some sort of paste, and a cupful of water, and he had soon transformed the components into a meal. He gestured to her to take over the two glasses of water he'd poured, whilst he took plates and cutlery to the table.

It was absolutely delicious, and Rey could not help but moan with her enjoyment, but the sound of it was starting to have an effect on Ben. Half way through their meal Rey began to feel Ben's eyes on her. LD had taught her a small veneer of table manners, but Rey began to wonder if she was embarrassing herself. She put down her fork and stopped eating, but Ben's gaze remained intense.

 _What is it?_ Rey probed gently. 

"I'm glad you like it," Ben said slightly distantly, eyes vaguely unfocussed.

Rey began to worry. "Are you alright?"

Ben took a deep gulp of water and tried to compose himself, but Rey had a brief glimpse into his thoughts and almost choked on her own water.

"Oh!"

His large naked body covering her own, her hair spread out on the pillow beneath them, bodies rocking together..... Ben had the decency to blush but continued to stare at her. It was a dark look, one she remembered from the throne room right before she rejected his hand, and Rey realised she'd misinterpreted his intentions in that moment. And surprisingly, Rey suddenly realised this was something she wanted too.

"I want that," Rey whispered. "To _be_ with you... I want that too."

Ben moved quickly. He was pulling her from her chair and in to his arms before the last syllable of her admission had left her lips, and somehow Rey found herself clinging to him with her legs wrapped around his waist, and her lips locked enthusiastically with his. Ben carried her back towards her bedroom, and laid her down on the bed before kneeling over her. His arms caged hers, and his knees nudged hers apart. Rey felt a rolling heat low down in her belly and a strange flush of warm moisture at the apex of her thighs. She swallowed nervously, one hand on his chest to hold him back for a moment.

"I've never... never done this," Rey confessed. "You're the first person I ever even kissed..."

Ben emitted a half pained groan.

"We'll take our time then," he promised her. "It might kill me...."

Rey smiled shyly, and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I want you to kiss me again Ben."

Rey pulled him on top of her, and Ben kissed her fiercely. He kept most his weight on his forearms, but his pelvis was level with hers and kept her pressed to the bed as he ravaged her mouth. Inexperienced though she was, Rey had kissed Ben often enough by now to be more than comfortable demonstrating her enthusiasm for the process. She was dimly aware of the firm bulge against the apex of her thigh, although Ben was careful to keep his lower half still. Ben groaned, pulling his mouth away from hers to stare at her in awe, his jaw working in the way she adored when he was thinking hard or trying to come to a decision.

"I want to touch you," Ben warned. "You'll tell me if it's too much?"

She nodded and muttered a "yes" against his mouth, and Rey found herself lost in new sensations as Ben's fingers deftly pulled her shift dress up to expose her belly and she wriggled her slippers from her feet. He paused, looking at her in a silent request for permission, and when she nodded slightly he pulled back onto his knees before lifting her in to a sitting position so he could pull the dress all the way up and over her head. He threw the garment over his shoulder before turning back to stare at her in just her underwear and breastband. Rey nodded at his shirt, and he was only too happy to oblige.

Rey reached out to touch his bare chest. She'd seen it before of course, had been wrapped in it often enough when they slept, but she marvelled again at the hard yet soft contradictions of it and remembered for a moment the way his kisses on the Finalizer had been enough to distract her so much that she had missed the first signs of the explosion that had crippled the ship.

"Rey..."

She pounced on his mouth, at the same time pulling his hands toward her breast band and moaning uninhibitedly as he freed her from the one thing stopping him from putting his mouth on her breasts. Ben's eyes widened, pulling apart to bring his hands to her breasts. Each hand was more than large enough to cup each one and still free up fingers to lightly stroke the soft tissue that began to harden at his caress. Rey gasped suddenly as his thumb stroked against one of her nipples

"Mmphfff. Ben!"

Ben let go of her breasts and she felt suddenly cold at the loss of his touch, but then he gently pushed her back against the bed and settled himself against her pelvis once more. Rey bit her lip as she watched him lower himself, his mouth seeking hers briefly before he began to kiss a line down her throat to the dip between her collarbones. Rey arched her back as he licked at her throat, warmth and wetness pooling at her core as he nipped at her before licking her again soothingly.

"More Ben. _Please_ "

His mouth continued to kiss a line southward, and he gently kissed the top of each breast, eyes seeking hers to assess her reactions. Seeking her pleasure after each new sensation. He sucked one nipple into his mouth and suddenly Rey's back arched involuntarily and her pelvis sought to find any sort of friction she could identify.

 _"Kriff_ Rey, you're so perfect."

He lifted one knee to pull her leg between his, and as he laved against her nipple he worked the other one with his finders and she bucked her hips again, this time finding his firm thigh. Instinctually she began to grind against it, panting and moaning deliciously as Ben switched to suckle her other breast and pinched and massaged it's companion. Finally, he let go with a loud "pop", lifting his head to survey the effects of his attention. She was flushed a beautiful shade of pink, neck arched towards him just begging to be kissed and sucked, and she continued to grind against his thigh. Ben watched her, cock painfully hard, before she pulled back from the edge enough to open her eyes and look at him. 

It was his cue to seek more, and his fingers hooked in to the waistband of her underwear before he stared back up at her.

"Can I take these off?"

" _Please_."

But then her small hands grabbed at his wrists and she stared at his own pants.

"But I think it's only fair yours come off too."

He blinked at her, before jumping off the end of the bed long enough to make short work of his loose pants. He knew he was large, although not monstrously so considering what would be proportionate to his overall size, but the few bed partners he'd had in the past had been intimidated by his size so he kept his shorts on. For now at least. The size of the bulge in his underwear was probably frightening enough. He knelt before her on the bed again, and at her final nod of permission he pulled her underwear off together. He stared at her for a moment, noting the little mark over her left thigh, the slightly raised scar under it - a birth control implant.

"When did you get that?"

Rey heaved a breath and coloured slightly. "Jakku. Before I even left."

He breathed slowly, wondering if she had got it to for someone in particular, someone she had wanted to share this with before him. Ben struggled not to let the flare of jealousy show, after all he had some experience with others before Rey. But it seemed she had been able to read his thought, at least a little, because she hurried to reassure him.

"I've never... not even wanted to, before now. Before you. But on Jakku, I wasn't much better than a slave and everything about me was for someone else to take. Jakku is harsh to everyone but to fall pregnant and not be able to scavenge, no food or water... I had to fight a few off and I was frightened one day I wouldn't be strong enough..."

"You got it in case you were _raped_?"

Ben was incredulous, and then suddenly furious that Rey had ever been in that position. He could faintly see the memory of it, how Rey had seen it happen to another scavenger, and how she had given of her own food and water to try and help her but it had ultimately not been enough. Younger than Rey herself, the pregnant scavenger and her unborn child had died of starvation when Rey was stuck in her AT-At by a week long sand storm, and someone had stolen the supplies Rey had gifted her. Rey's determination not to let the same thing happen to her, the fear that the next time a thug with a passing interest in her body came calling she wouldn't be strong enough to fight him off - or worse she might be taken by a gang of them. So she had taken two days off from scavenging, a trip to Cratertown which had a much better market than Niima Outpost with stalls not monopolised by Unkar Plutt. It was two days she didn't eat, bargaining an offworlder at a stall, handing over hard earned portions that could have filled her belly for a month for the insurance against someone forcibly inflicting a death sentence on her. 

He closed his eyes and turned his thoughts to the present, back to this room and her bed. She could have hardened her heart on Jakku, yet she continued to show compassion for other despite everything. Rey deserved so much better than him, but she had chosen to love him as he loved her, and he was going to make this _perfect_ for her. Ben's eyes snapped open again and he stared for a few seconds, taking all of her in, the flushed cheeks, hardened nipples, the glistening moisture and the smell of her arousal. 

He might actually die from his want for her.

"Can I... Can I taste you?"

Rey frowned, not understanding.

"Let me please sweetheart.... you can tell me if you don't like it. If you don't like anything you just have to tell me, I'll stop."

Rey nodded, willing to at least try any experience he offered, and Ben settled himself between her thighs again, lower this time. He started kissing the space between her breasts, then nipped, licked and kissed his way down to her navel where he sucked briefly before working down to the curls of her mound. He wriggled further down the bed, sliding off the edge to land on his knees before he firmly grasped her ankles and pulled her towards him. Her knees thrown over his shoulders, he began to nip and kiss the inside of each thigh. Moisture continued to pool at her, the heady smell of her driving Ben to moan along with her as he pushed her thighs apart and he stared at her wet folds.

"So wet for me already, Rey?"

Rey bucked her hips as he suddenly licked a firm stripe over her labia upwards to flick against her clit. Ben gave her a moment to adjust, before using his arms to hold her thighs down and repeat the same motion. Rey cried his name this time, and Ben felt his cock twitch in anticipation.

She was lost to the sensation of it all as Ben licked her for a third time, and then kissed and suckled on the little bundle of nerves that seemed to be sending the most delicious shocks through her. Where had he learned to do that? _That_ wasn' something she'd never heard the women in the brothel tents talk about. 

_You've never even touched yourself there?_ He must have heard her thoughts, for he stopped his ministrations and looked at her in wonder as she shook her head.

"You're going to be the death of me woman," Ben groaned, but then smiled back at her. "I guess I'm going to be your teacher after all."

Rey huffed a slight chuckle as she lay back against the pillow, before Ben readjusted his hold on her to massage her right hip in slow circles and moved back to lick and suckle at her clit once more. She arched her back, the intensity growing and Rey began to pant and grasp at the blanket beneath her. Shocks riddled her body as Ben continued, tension coiled in her belly, but she was fighting it. Afraid for a moment of what crossing that expanse might mean.

_Let go. Stop holding on._

Rey screamed his name aloud and across the bond as the orgasm shook her, her back arching off the bed as heat filled her chest and she shook from the effort. Ben continued to lick gently at her clit, keeping up the intense wave longer, until finally she collapsed in a boneless heap against the mattress. He crawled up to lay beside her, pulling Rey to his chest. She lay panting, half dazed still, mind more anchored in the bond than reality for the moment. Ben simply held her, kissing her temple occasionally and muttering soothingly and went back to massaging soothing circles into her hip and tried to ignore his painfully hard cock.

Rey sighed, a sound of deep satisfaction.

"Are you okay, sweetheart?" He kissed her temple tenderly again.

"Amazing," Rey admitted shyly, "but what about you?"

"I can take care of... it. Later. If you just want to rest."

"I'm not tired." She tilted her neck upwards to so that her lips grazed against his chin. "And I want more."

Ben watched her, pupils blown, as she kissed her way down his throat to his collar bones, before shoving against his shoulder and forcing him onto his back. He pulled her with him so that she landed mostly lying over his chest, before his large hands wrapped around her hips and pulled her against his pelvis and positioned each of her legs to lie over each of his hips. Rey briefly looked up at him to raise one eye brow questioningly, before she realised he had positioned her core over the bulge in his shorts. 

As she kissed the upper edge of his pectoral, right over his heart, Ben rolled his hips lightly and was rewarded by a gasp from Rey. He smirked at her as she sat up and stared at him, and he did it again. Rey's eyes grew wide and pulled one corner of her lower lip between her teeth.

"Ben..."

Rey braced herself against Ben's chest as his arms came up to steady her hips. He continued to roll his hips whilst smirking at her, his hands encouraging her to rock her hips against him. Barely separated, just the thin material of his shorts between his cock and her sex, Rey began to feel the tension begin to mount in her body again. An obscene moan fell from her lips as Ben bucked up agains her, and suddenly the world was upended as he pulled her to him and rolled them both over so that he lay slightly to one side of her, large lips locked against her. Ben sunk his tongue into her mouth, and then suddenly their tongues were tangling against each other as one of his hands made its way down to her clit. He swirled one large finger against the swollen and responsive little bud, before sinking his hand lower to tease it against her entrance, all along consuming her mouth.

Cupping her gently between her legs, Ben slowly pushed in one finger, the thumb of the same hand gently stroking her clit, and he was rewarded with a shriek and buck of her hips. He gently stroked the inside of her, testing how tight and wet she was, trying to open her up slightly. Rey ground down against his hand and he smiled in to her mouth.

"Like that?"

Beyond words, Rey just moaned and ground harder. Ben pulled his finger free and then probed her again, this time adding a second finger. Rey shuddered as his crooked finger stroked the most tender spot on her front wall, and fell apart against him suddenly. He continued to work his fingers, drawing out her orgasm, and Rey writhed against him almost overstimulated now. Eventually she lay still, panting against him as she tried to regain her breath

"Ben... I _need_....."

He kissed her desperately. "Are you sure, Sweetheart?"

Hooded eyes looked up at him, hazy bliss in her expression, but she looked down his body to the bulge that lay against her hip, and smiled reassuringly. Small fingers pulled at the waistband of his shorts, and he pulled away from her for a moment to rid himself of his underwear. Rey's eyes grew larger as he was finally fully naked in front of her, his cock red and large and a momentary fear fluttered through her mind. _Is that even going to fit?_

"Trust me, Sweetheart, it _will_ fit," Ben reassured her with another smirk.

Rey blushed, now sure whether he had heard her thoughts or she was simply easy to read.

"We can stop," Ben grit out. "If you're not ready. We can stop here for now."

But she merely shook her head, and reached out to stroke his member. "No. Just.... _be_ with me, Ben."

He steadied himself on one elbow, and took his cock in the other hand, gently teasing the tip against her wet folds to lubricate himself. Leaning forward, he let his cock rest against her moist slit, rubbing through her folds and against her already sensitised clit, and Rey moaned obscenely. Ben pressed his lips against her forehead, her ear, her throat, before he plundered her mouth again. 

After a moment, he repositioned himself, the tip of his cock pressing against her entrance, all the while still kissing Rey, and pressed forward slightly. She was _tight_ , but parted for him just enough to allow his cock entry, until he found himself pressed up against a barrier. Rey whimpered, and he pulled back out before pushing in again, this time a little further. Ben was holding himself up with both elbows now, body arched slightly over hers, continuing to claim her mouth as he worked himself inside her.

Rey lay still as he pushed up against her limit. It was _a lot_ , but although she felt stretched, it wasn't painful.... _yet_. She had heard talk from some of the girls who had been new to Plutt's brothel tents, that the first time was painful. So far, however, all she had felt was the bliss of his mouth on her most private parts, his fingers inside her... and she had overheard enough to know that the brothel women often enjoyed their work. And as he dragged his cock back out it was almost pleasurable.

But now Rey had begun to feel a sting, and a traitorous tear trickled down one cheek. Ben felt her tense, and stilled as he realised what was happening. He began to withdraw, and Rey began to worry he was going to stop, but then _oh_ his hand found her mound and then a finger began to work her clit and suddenly the pain was nothing more than a faint burn, and with one deep push from Ben Rey felt incredibly full as all of _Ben_ was inside of her.

"Okay Sweetheart?"

"Mmmmm. Full. But good."

They lay as they were for a moment, Ben's hot breath on her neck, Rey clinging tightly to his shoulders. It felt so _right_ , as if this was how they were always supposed to be. As if they were supposed to be one being. And then Ben began to move, slowly, gently, just rocking his body against hers at first. Rey began to slowly relax, her hips finding their own rhythm, the sting almost an afterthought as Ben's cock slid against her sensitive walls and his thumb slowly stroked her clit.

"Oh _kriff_ Rey, you feel so good Sweetheart. So warm and tight and perfect".

"Ahhhhh, _Ben._ More."

Ben huffed a chuckle, and began to move a little faster, hips snapping at the end of each thrust. It was perfect, _exquisite_ , Rey felt full in the most delicious way and between Ben's cock and his thumb on her clit, she could feel her next orgasm building. Slowly, Ben began to pick up the pace and force of each thrust, each dragging withdrawal slow and deliberate, each new thrust as deep as he could go and careful to angle himself against her sensitive front wall. The sound of them coming together was deliciously filthy, the squelching sound of Rey's arousal as Ben slid in and out, the slapping of skin as hips met each other and Ben's balls bounced against her with each thrust that drove him right to the very hilt.

At some point Rey realised she was no longer clinging to his shoulders, instead the fingernails of one hand were dragging themselves lightly along his spine, the fingers of her other hand splayed in his hair. Each gasp and moan he dragged from her was captured by his mouth and his wicked tongue that flicked against the roof of her mouth and drove her wild. There was not need to speak, instead he whispered across the bond. _So good, so perfect, so tight._ And possessive. _Mine. All mine. No-one else._

"Yours," Rey affirmed, panting, as Ben worked her to the edge. "And you're _mine_."

 _Kriff_ , despite the evidence to the contrary Ben still couldn't believe he was here with her, inside of her. She felt like life itself, like home, and he knew he would never have anyone else. No-one else would ever be this perfect, this right. He already knew he would follow her wherever she would go, but suddenly that didn't seem quite enough. He wanted more, forever, and for the entire galaxy to know she was his. He wasn't worthy of her, but if she'd let him he would do his damnedest to make her happy for the rest of their lives. 

Something of his feelings must have been passed on to her, whether across the bond or in the way he thrust in to her, or maybe both, because Rey wrapped her ankles around his lower back and pulled him deeper into her, moaning his name. Ben groaned, deep and animalistic, as he felt Rey begin to flutter around him. He withdrew his hand from her clit to balance himself on both forearms and with the last strength he had drove himself deep inside of her, so deep he could have sworn he was wedged under her cervix. She screamed his name as she climaxed, and Ben was right behind her, bellowing her name as he came. Rey felt him spill inside of her, the sensation of his cock pulsing inside her dragging out her own climax, and finally Ben collapsed against her, elbows keeping the worst of his weight off her. She placed one hand against his chest, palm splayed and felt his heart racing along in time with her own. 

Rey almost mourned the intimacy of their physical connection, feeling his cock softening and sliding out of her. But the way he rolled them onto their sides, spooning her against his chest was nice too. She settled sleepily against him, and as the sweat from their bodies started to cool Ben lazily summoned the blanket that usually lay folded at the end of her bed that had been knocked to the floor, settling it over them.

"Sleep Sweetheart," Ben rumbled in her ear, ending in a yawn.

Almost as if he had commanded her, Rey found her eyes closing and she drifted off, body full of his essence and her heart full of love.


	16. Two Droids and a Wookie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final chapter of the First Act

_He knows this isn't real. Perhaps a vision from the force, or a dream of a kinder past he wishes he could have had. Maybe its what the Force had initially intended for him._

_Ben Solo is newly 20 years old, and he is sitting in the Pilot's seat of a small transport ship, with Luke Skywalker in the co-pilot chair. They have been searching the western reaches, at the edge of the Inner Rim, for weeks now. Something has been calling to Ben, a direction from the Force, and he is compelled to follow._

_Master Skywalker has come for Ben's protection, worried that this is a trick from the Dark Side. But how can Ben explain to him that this calling, which started a few days before he came to the Temple as a child, is the thing that has been_ holding back _the dark voices that call to him? Their small transport drops out of hyperspace and Ben suddenly realises they are here. Whatever, no.... whoever has been calling him… has been doing so from the planet below._

_"Really Ben," Master Skywalker raises as eyebrow, "Jakku?"_

_"I'm sure Uncle Luke. It's there, somewhere...."_

_Skywalker sighs heavily._

_"Lor San Tekka is here. Perhaps we should find him and ask about a bit first."_

_Ben recalls Lor, an old devotee of the Force who had occasionally helped his Uncle with the search for ancient Jedi and Sith artefacts. He didn't yield the Force, but seemed to know it well enough, and he supposed if anyone on this forsaken dust bowl knew anything about this presence it would be Lor._

_"Sure Uncle Luke. Do you know where he is?"_

_"Some little village called Tuanul. He said it was due west of Cratertown."_

_They find Cratertown easily enough, and stop for supplies and refuelling. Ben is anxious and eager to leave, barely able to contain himself from a frustrated outburst, and Luke decides to leave Ben in the transport whilst Luke himself seeks out information on Tuanul. Ben doesn't know where this feeling comes from, and can barely describe it - anticipation, excitement, and the certainty he is about to meet with his destiny._

_When Luke finally returns it is all Ben can do to be civil to his uncle, rather than demanding they leave immediately. The tension in his nephew is palpable, and blinking in surprise Luke forgoes the sarcastic comment on his tongue about Ben's need to gain control of his emotions. It's a constant struggle for his Padawan, but Luke can see he really is trying._

_"Due west indeed," Luke confirms, "primitive buildings but easily recognisable by the large vaporator."_

_Ben nods, and starts preparing the ship for flight. Oddly, he feels the tension growing as they take off and head due west, and Ben realises they whilst might be going to see Lor, he individual calling to him is in the same direction._

_It takes no more than a half hour to find the village, and Lor greets Luke like the dearly missed friends they are. After Lor takes them into the largest of the buildings in the village, he sets out a tray of tea and sits down to discuss the reason for their visit. Luke outlines the dark voices, the calling that Ben insists is separate but Luke suspects is another trick from the dark side to lure him. Ben can hardly pay attention, the thudding of his heart loud in his ears and he can feel that whatever is calling him is close._

_"I came here looking for something," Lor is telling Luke, "and I stayed because I too feel something here. A vergence in the force."_

_Whoever has been calling Ben is not only close, he can sense that they are becoming closer. They are here, in this place, and Ben feels each step towards him._

_"I never thought I would actually find it," Lor is continuing, the old man's words filtering through to Ben dimly. "But two days ago, she walked into the village with a group of older women."_

_The curtain and beads at the entrance to Lor's large hut flutter, and a young girl enters. She is dressed in a simple sleeveless tunic and leggings, both beige in colour, a brown leather belt and ankle boots of the same material. Her rich brown hair is tied back in three simple vertical buns, and her kind eyes are a rich hazel colour._

_Ben realises that the calling he has been sensing is from the force, and more specifically it is emanating from this child._

_"Hello Ben," the girl greets him, and Ben's eyes widen in recognition._

_He immediately recognises the voice. One that speak to him in his sleep, countering the dark presence that haunts him during his days, bringing him a measure of peace some nights that allows him to sleep. Though they've never met, Ben finds clarity in the recognition that they are somehow connected._

_"It is you," Ben whispers._

*****

Ben's eyes fluttered open suddenly, and he sat up quickly. He shivered as he recalled his dream, but dismissed it as the confusion of a tired mind processing the startling revelations of the last week before.

Sensing his wakefulness, Rey turned her naked body towards him in her sleep, mumbling his name before settling back in to the regular pattern of deep breathing Ben had already come to know so well. He looked over at the chrono by her side of the bed, realising they had slept away several hours but it was still fairly early in the night cycle. Ben decided to abandon sleep in favour of preapring a light meal and some study on healing his kyber crystal. He climbed quietly from the bed to pull on his pants and a loose shirt over his bare torso before padding into the kitchen of Rey's quarters. _Their quarters_ he supposed - although for propriety's sake he had still been keeping his own.

After the events of the afternoon, Ben knew he didn't want to maintain any living space separate from Rey. The thought of separation from her again was not just painful, it wasn't possible. Had their bond not in fact proved they Force intended only for them to be together? All their connections across the vastness of space should not have been possible, and yet it was. Only two who were meant to be so much more in the Force could have such a bond. A vaguely remembered term from a text he must have read early in his career at Luke's temple... a _dyad_.

And although it seemed through the Force itself they were already a permanent pair, in some respects Ben was old fashioned. Ben wanted their bond to be recognised in the simplest way. One day soon, he intended to ask her to marry him, even if the state of the galaxy meant they had to remain in hiding.

*****

Maz Kanata had not just rebuilt her palace on Takodana but had extended the size and splendour of her former home, having received several anonymous "donations" since the Battle of Crait that she had a fair idea came from a certain (former?) Dark Lord. Credits had been forwarded along with the messages he had sent to Leia and herself, arriving not long before Mitaka and the "gift" to the Resistance of the Supreme Council, although in this case these credits were not for Maz to rebuild but for her to act as his agent. 

Completing his instructions was going to be difficult, however, given the current "guests" occupying the accommodations. The Wookie wasn't the issue - despite his intelligence and years of exposure to the devious Han Solo, Chewbacca was far too honest and direct even when stealing and smuggling to cause her much concern. Those droids though.... Maz was well aware of R2-D2s reputation and BB-8 could only be a similarly duplicitous droid given the way those two seemed to interact. They were likely to know all her secrets within a day unless she was very, very careful. 

Currently Maz was watching BB-8 rather sourly from her position at the bar. What the heck did a droid who could only speak binary want in a cantina anyway? He couldn't converse with the patrons, seemed to have minimal interactions with any other droids, and obviously a droid cannot eat or drink. Given the conspicuous absence of R2, the little orange and white ball droid was probably a distraction. But what was R2 actually up to?

Indeed, R2D2 was busy stealing data from Maz Kanata's personal server. There was a fair amount of interesting information R2 filed away in his memory banks, including some pertinent to Master Ben, but the information of interest wasn't on the server. Fortunately, the network he had logged on to had a connection to Maz's personal datapad and the information he was looking for was there. 

R2D2 had the coordinates from where Master Ben had sent his messages, as well as other information some of which might come in useful to the Princess. The droid let out a long, low whistle with what could almost be considered a chuckle at the end. 

When R2D2 came into to the cantina, quickly followed out by BB-8, Maz Kanata narrowed her eyes suspiciously. Yes, those droids were definitely up to something.

Whatever they were chasing, she sourly reflected, the departure of the Falcon not long thereafter probably meant they got whatever they were after.

*****

Rey awoke to find the other side of her bed, _Ben's_ side she remembered happily, empty. She could feel his presence nearby, but the coolness of the sheets where he normally lay suggested he had been up for a while. She stretched, the movement bringing a faint sting between her thighs and a stickiness that left her blushing as she remembered their joining. 

Ben must have felt her awaken, for he was leaning against the edge of the open sliding door in a few moments.

"Hey sweetheart. Feeling okay?"

His smirk was slightly lecherous, but there was a genuine note of concern that Rey could detect. She suspected he had felt her discomfort through their connection which only felt stronger now.

"A bit sore," Rey confessed, sitting up against the bedhead, "but to be expected I suppose? Otherwise... quite wonderful really."

She blushed as she looked at Ben's lips, soft and plush, thinking where they had been on her body. _All over her body_. He dropped to his knees next to her bed and grabbed at her hands, a contrite expression on his features.

Rey pulled one hand free from his and ran her fingers along his jaw, staring wonderingly at his lips before leaning towards him to kiss him gently. "I could definitely use a wash."

Pulling the loose blanket around her body, Rey's legs wobbled slightly as she stood up intending to head towards the fresher. She squealed in sudden surprise as Ben lifted her up, and she snaked her arms around his neck.

"I can walk Ben!"

"Yes but this way I can keep you right where I want you, Sweetheart."

Ben set her down on the counter top, lips briefly brushing against hers before he reached just inside the shower stall and adjusted the settings for the shower which began to flow. He turned back to her, gently pulling at the blanket to expose her upper body, lips brushing gently against hers briefly again. Finally, he pulled the blanket away, tossing it through the door of the bathroom out in to the dressing room, and they both just stared at each other for a moment. Finally large hands moved quickly over Rey, examining the evidence of their lovemaking. Ben briefly brushing his lips against the places on her neck and shoulders where lips and teeth had marked her, before hitching his breath as he moved to view her inner thighs, still slightly sticky with Ben's dried spend and a small amount of dried blood.

"Rey..." He bit his lip and looked up into her eyes, his own warm chocolate brown one's looking slightly worried.

Rey pulled him to her, between her thighs and against her body and kissed him deeply. "It's fine Ben. Normal, right?"

Ben shed his shirt and pants, tossing them into the laundry chute, and stood naked before her, his cock already half hard. But rather than acting on his obvious arousal, Ben swallowed hard and lifted her up from the counter to gently set her feet on the floor before he guided her into the shower and under the stream of water. He gathered her into his arms and just held her for a while, slightly hunched and with his chin resting gently on her shoulder as he gently stroked one hand up and down her back over the numerous scars of her life on Jakku, the other hand firmly planted on one of her hips.

After a long moment he finally spoke, just a half whisper full of all his wonder that they were actually there, together.

"I love you."

Why were they both suddenly crying, Rey wondered. She wasn't sad, and neither was Ben, and she realised these were tears of joy and hope. Joy that they had found each other, and hope for a far more beautiful future together than either could have perceived after their first meeting. And not a small measure of disbelief and wonder, given their previous combative relationship on opposite sides of a war and the Force itself. 

It took Rey a moment to realise Ben had moved to start washing her hair, gently working shampoo through the tangles and smiling at her all the time. 

"Need to get you nice and clean," she could hear him muttering to himself.

He sighed against her cheek as he pulled away from her neck. 

"Gonna take good care of you Rey."

He kissed her temple.

"Need to show you how much I love you."

He ran his fingers down her sides and then kissed her forehead as he reached for a sponge.

"So beautiful Rey."

He started to run the soapy sponge across her shoulders, up and down each arm slowly and deliberately then her spine and back. Rey shivered as he turned her around, pressing her against his chest before running the sponge over her breasts and belly. When he moved lower to wash their combined fluids form her thighs, Rey couldn't help but moan.

"Ben... _please._ "

"You like that, Sweetheart," Ben rumbled. "What do you want?"

He stood up to pull her against his chest again, and slipped one hand between her thighs She could feel his erection pressing against her lower back as he gently cupped her sex with a slight pressure, and Rey couldn't help but grind against his palm.

"Please Ben, I _need_ it."

But she wasn't exactly sure _what_ she needed. His hands, his mouth, his fingers, his cock, even just his skin pressed against hers. Everything was somehow _too much_ and _not enought_ all at once. She sobbed in relief when one of his fingers lightly traced her labia and then gently rubbed against the little bundle of nerves he seemed to work so well. It didn't take long until she was flying, seeing nothing but stars and a trembling mess under his fingers. She _needed_ more, but when he moved to trace a finger over her entrance she shuddered and winced at the sting.

"Maybe I need a day or two," Rey apologised ruefully. "But what about you?"

Ben was about to reassure her, that he didn't expect anything from her but then …. _Maker_ , he suddenly couldn't think, as Rey tentatively wrapped one of her small hands around the base of his shaft. Lubricated by the warm water and no small amount of soap dripping from the sponge Ben still held, her hands slipped easily over his hardness. Rey bit her lower lip, uncertain of what to do despite the obvious effect her hands were having on Ben.

"Can you show me?," Rey finally blurted. "Show me what you like, what to do?"

Ben leaned down and captured her lips with his own, before laying his own hands over hers and gently guiding her. Pressure, here, a twist there, long firm strokes. She ran the tip of her thumb over his slit, already weeping with pre-come, and suddenly Ben let go of her hands, moaning obscenely and staggering back against the shower wall.

"Fuck Rey, just like that..."

Rey continued working his cock, bringing him towards the brink with increasing confidence as she watched his lips tremble and his breath grow increasing laboured. She couldn't help but feel powerful herself, as arguably the most powerful man in the galaxy was falling to pieces with the touch of her hands alone. She, _a nobody from nowhere_ , had the former Supreme Leader of the First Order at her mercy! Suddenly his hands were over hers again, bringing them to a still as he shuddered and his cock jerked an twitched in their hands. Hands that were now coated in his spend, along with her thighs and the shower floor.

"Kriff woman," Ben croaked a half laugh.

Still leaning against he shower wall for support, Ben pulled her into his arms. Rey leaned into him, one ear against his chest as she listed to his heart hammering away. She stayed that way until it slowly settled into its normal steady thud, before kissing his chest and reluctantly pulling away.

Eventually, they washed each other again, slowly learning every mark on the other's skin. Knowing the recirculation and sterilising systems of the base, and the effectively endless supply, Rey's desert dwelling heart tried not to feel guilty when Ben finally shut off the water. He reached for the rack beside the shower that held a pair of soft, thick towels in a shade of pale grey. Rey let him dry her hair as she tried, unsuccessfully due to his height, to do the same for him and he had to finish off drying his dripping locks himself. Moving to their bedroom, Ben pulled a short tunic dress over her head, designed for sleep, before pulling on a fresh pair of soft pants for hmself, and finally leading her out into the kitchen to the meal he had prepared for them.

*****

"Mistress Rey"

There was a voice calling to Rey from the darkness of sleep, and she turned away from it to snuggle deeper into Ben's arms. She was far too comfortable, too _happy_ , to be pulled from the comfortable warmth and safety of Ben.

"I must insist Mistress Rey."

 _No. No, no, no._ Rey sighed against Ben's chest, the puff of air an slight movement causing Ben to stir as well and he pulled her into him to settle his chin on her shoulder.

"Master Solo. It is an _emergency!_ A vessel is approaching the planet hailing Mistress Rey and yourself!"

Both Ben and Rey came awake at this information, Ben sitting up first with Rey a few heartbeats behind, and both turned towards LD-2ZY.

"I am most sorry to wake you at this hour, Mistress, Master. But there is a vessel approaching the planet. A Corellian Engineering Model YT-1300, identifying itself as _The Millenium Falcon._ "

Had the Resistance found them already? How? Rey began to panic, and Ben, sensing her distress, wrapped his left arm around her and pulled her back into his chest.

_Easy Sweetheart, you don't know what they want._

"A rather aggressive Wookie is demanding you reply. He claims to be your _uncle_ , Master Ben."

Ben huffed. _Great, a vengeful Wookie has come for my blood_.

_Now who needs to relax? Chewie doesn't want to kill you._

"What?" Ben stared at Rey.

"He helped me get to you on the Supremacy. He wanted to save you from Snoke, too."

LD-2ZY was far too excited to realise a separate conversation was going on between Rey and Ben, and continued on rapidly.

"Transmission from a R2 unit on the vessel indicates the Wookie is the only lifeform, and accompanied by two droids. Scans confirm the droid's claim."

Rey thought for a moment, then looked at Ben. 

_I'll go with whatever you decide, Sweetheart. But maybe we should meet them somewhere neutral first, just in case the whole Resistance isn't far behind?_

"Have you answered them yet?" Rey asked the droid.

"No. But the droid is aware we have received their transmission."

She debated making them land at Niima Outpost, with Unkar Plutt likely to try and reclaim the Falcon it would be a useful distraction until she could determine if the Resistance was a threat. In the end she decided against it, not wanting to draw attention to herself should she have to intervene. Plutt would certainly want to claim the million credit bounty the First Order were doubtless still offering for her capture. Or worse, draw attention to Ben, who she worried would be instantly recognisable from the holonet, and surely the First Order would want him back. Or dead, if they knew he was with her.

In the end, it was simple. Since Ben insisted on going with her, they would take her ship to her old AT-AT, and set up a short wave homing beacon so Chewie could find her. Once she was certain of his intentions, they could either escort them to the base or escape and circle back home once they had evaded the Falcon.

*****

Ben watched silently from the hatch of the downed AT-AT as the Falcon landed softly not far from the modified X-Wing. There was a tension to Rey that he hadn't seen since their fight on Starkiller, and he realised she was poised for a potential fight she didn't really want. The ramp lowered, and Chewie lumbered down, with two droids remaining at the tope of the ramp. Ben could identify R2D2, and a small orange and white ball droid, a BB unit that Ben realised was probably the droid he's been looking for so many months ago that had lead to him finding Rey instead.

From he bottom of the ramp Chewie stared at Ben first, then Rey, before slowly crossing the sands towards Rey and engulfing her in a huge hug of relief. Ben could hear him asking her in Shyriiwook if she was well. The implied meaning - had Kylo Ren hurt her, was she free?

" _Ben_ has been taking good care of me." Rey emphasised his name, trying to make her point that he was no longer an enemy. "Before that, well it's complicated."

Chewie moaned a question Ben didn't quite catch.

"Yes, he really is back. It really is Ben."

Chewie stepped past her and ran towards Ben, who braced himself for the expected blow. Instead, Chewie folded him into his arms and rumbled happily, murmuring _little cub_ over and over in Shiiriwook. Ben still though Chewie might kill him, although in this instance not from violence but smothered in a tight embrace and a face full of fur. Eventually the Wookie released him, and Ben could breathe properly again. He looked up at his father's oldest friend, surprised to see the damp fur on his face and eyes that still shone with tears. Rey had closed the distance initially, worried that Chewie might have intended violence, but hung back a little now seeing her worst fears were not likely to unfold.

Chewie moaned a few words of forgiveness, but was stopped him short.

"No Chewie," Ben told him sadly. "I don't deserve forgiveness for what I did to Han. On the bridge, there was a moment... a moment I almost did the right thing and took my father's hand. I could have chosen better."

"Ben no," Rey interrupted. "You were in his stranglehold. You only broke free because killing Han did the complete opposite of what Snoke intended it to do. It didn't bond you to him and to the dark, the horror of it began to split you from the dark side."

Chewie roared his agreement with Rey, and pulled both of them into a hug that seemed to last forever. When Chewie let them breathe again Ben smiled over at Rey.

"I'm fairly sure you had something to do with it too, Sweetheart."


	17. A period of healing

The fleet of strange ships that had come from the unknown regions remained in their original orbit around Kalee. The Resistance continued to monitor the alien fleet, both through spying on First Order communications as well as deploying a probe of their own to the Kalee system.

The Resistance had set up their new base on Dantooine, in the old Rebel base that had been abandoned long ago. Despite Leia having given the location of the abandoned base to Vader, other than the Sith Lord himself it seemed that knowledge died with the first Death Star. Leia doubted anyone still alive knew about the location, and in any case the Resistance was low enough on support that setting up in an already built facility was an advantage she could not ignore.

In truth, she had resisted settling them on the ground anywhere simply to give Rey, and maybe Ben too, a chance to find them and join them. Finally, supplies and support depleted, they needed to take stock and try harder to recruit more fighters, more funds, and more supplies. And it would help if those she depended on most stopped leaving her. First Rey had run from the Resistance; now Chewie and those two kriffing droids had taken off, ostensibly to find Rey but damned if it didn't feel like another abandonment to Leia Organa.

Other than settling the Resistance into their new base, all she can do now is wait to see what this fleet is all about. The First Order also seems to be still for the moment. No doubt there is a lot of infighting going on there anyway - after all, the position of Supreme Leader is currently vacant thanks to Ben's disappearance - but the enemy is also cautious.. Both the backup Pryde brought and this new fleet came from the unknown regions, but it's obvious from Pryde's cautious reconnaissance as well as the lack of forward momentum in terms of their overtaking the galaxy that Pryde is more than a little uncertain right now.

The visions she'd had about Ben and Rey and this new threat have continued to haunt her. Although Leia only catches glimpses at best, every vision of the future she _has_ ever had has ultimately came to pass so far. 

_Ben, carrying a red saber through a snowy forest, a faceless opponent slicing through his chest, shoulder and face with an upward blow from a familiar blue bladed saber_

That had been the first battle with Rey, and she had sliced his face open with the saber Luke had carried when Leah first met him on the Death Star.

_Nightmares when she had been pregnant with Ben. A dark shadow, consuming her son until nothing was left but a mirrored dark shadow of her child._

Ben, falling to the dark side after Snoke had whispered to him even in the womb.

_Han, reaching for their son's face even as his heart began to stutter to a stop. The love never leaving Han's eyes, and the crushing pain in Ben's soul as he realised the action he hadn't really wanted to take had not had the desired result. The girl watching from above, screaming her pain as Chewbacca aimed his bowcaster at Ben._

That same girl had stepped off the Falcon on D'aqar. and Leia had known immediately her vision had come to pass.

_Ben, falling on his own lightsaber, Rey sobbing over him after she arrived too late to stop him. Her hand over his wound, and Ben's disbelief when gave of her own life-force to save him. The feelings he had towards Rey, a deep love, and connection far greater than two force user's could typically form._

Although Ben had not said as much, his message to his mother had said that Rey had saved him. Leia could only assume this too had passed.

Thus, Leia was sadly certain that the visions she had seen when the alien fleet had arrived would come to pass too, she just didn't know when.

_Rey, covered in blood, Ben's blood. Leia's son slumped against Rey, his eye's glassy as they blink slowly and tiredly, before they finally close and Rey screams her grief. A sudden flash of light and they are gone._

_Ben, beaten and bleeding as he fights a dark caricature of a creature with too many limbs and clicking and hissing instead of words. Rey at his back, facing off against another creature. Despite the circumstances, they are smiling as if at some secret, familiar memory._

_Snoke, but not the wrinked and broken creature Leia remembers, this Snoke is whole. He is standing at the top of short staircase, before a dark throne, his hands around Rey's throat and electricity in his fingers. Choking the life from her as Ben watches helplessly, his broken form slumped against the bottom steps as he reaches unsuccessfully toward Rey. Almost dead, Snoke throws her unconscious down the steps toward Ben._

Luke had warned Leia against interpreting visions of the future, that the future was "always in motion, and difficult to see with any accuracy", but for Leia they had _always_ come to pass. Now, she feared Rey had saved Ben only for the Force to set them both on the inevitable path to their death. It was cruel that they should answer the Force, succumb to it's demands only to suffer such awful fate.

*****

Eighty-Four merely raised a single eyebrow when the Millenium Falcon entered the hangar, following behind the modified X-Wing. He merely sighed an amused sort of sigh when Rey informed him they would be their guests for now, and Ben quickly explained that one of the GRC would show them to quarters near their own. Eighty-Four had laid one hand over Ben's wrist, and Chewie had watched confused as some sort of unspoken conversation seemed to occur between them.

"Yes, of course," Ben had said quietly as if answering a question, before turning to Chewie and the droids. "Best we have this conversation all together. Eighty-Four here will arrange quarters for you and we can meet in one of the conference rooms to have a chat about why you are here."

Chewie nodded, and both he and Ben watched the little orange and white ball droid finally break away in impatience and start bumping against Rey's shin. She knelt down, playing with his antenna and straightening it as the droid babbled happily in basic at her.

"Yes BB-8, this is Ben." A few short trills. "Yes, I'm very happy here." A long, low whistle. "Yes, he _was_ Kylo Ren. But he's Ben Solo now."

The droid stopped and seemed to stare at Ben for a few moments. Ben's own basic was a little rusty, but the final response of the droid could only be interpreted as a grudging forgiveness and acceptance of Ben and he began to have his suspicions as to the identity of the droid. Rey patted the little ball droid before standing up and returning to Ben's side.

Chewie was slightly confused, but hummed happily when he noticed Rey slip one of her hands into Ben's own. She smiled happily at Chewie before turning towards Ben, her forehead resting against Ben's shoulder and closing her eyes on a sigh. The Wookie's expression softened further when he noticed Ben, unconsciously, turning towards Rey for a moment to gently brush his lips against her hair. With a short roar of acknowledgement, Chewie and the droids left to follow one of the GRC.

"Tell me about the droid," Ben murmured as they left, smiling down at Rey.

"He's a BB unit with a selenium drive and thermal hyperscan vindicator," she smiled back up at him cheekily.

"Ah, so I _finally_ found the droid I've been looking for. Luckily for all of us I found the girl first."

*****

In the conference room, although Chewie and the droids couldn't see his ghostly form, Annakin stood behind Ben and Rey as R2D2 connected to a data port to the side of the room. He had missed his plucky droid friend, and once again it seemed the droid was to be thanked for its independent thinking. 

Not only had R2 been able to locate Rey and Ben by means of tracking Ben's messages to Maz, he also brought with him evidence of the a new threat. One that provides some explanation as to why the Force had pushed the truth of Rey's heritage _now._ There was no time to introduce the knowledge to her gently - and Annakin was thankful at the very least that this knowledge waited for Ben's arrival so that she was not alone. Although Anakin had known the basics himself, the Force had not permitted him to tell her, and from the way Ben occasionally scowled at him over his shoulder it was clear Ben was not pleased with his grandfather.

Rey, for her part, simply ignored her Master. Instead, she focussed on the limited data R2 had gleaned before the droids and the Wookie had left the Resistance, and Chewie's grumbled concerns about Leia's words, the vision.

They didn't know much at all about this threat, other than Leia had felt darkness surrounding it. Eight-Four brought up a few captured tranmissions, very little really given Kalee was so far away, but the GRC at the base monitored all transmissions that passed their way and in the last three days a First Order ship had briefly dropped out of hyperspace above Jakku in order to send and receive transmission. It wasn't common, but there was still an influx of First Order ships from their reserve in the Unknown Regions, and it was clear that the First Order was not the source of the Kalee fleet.

"I thought we had more time, Ben."

Ben held Rey's hand beneath the table, gently stroking the first two fingers with his thumb, trying to impart some comfort as he sensed her anxiety.

"It's okay, Sweetheart. Remember the throne room? We're strong together."

Rey nodded, squeezing his hand before she let go and placed both of her palms on the table. She pushed her chair back, and rose to a standing position.

"There's nothing we can do at the moment," Rey addressed the room. "Chewie, BB-8, R2. You are welcome to stay as long as you'd like, but should you leave I ask that you do not tell the Resistance how to find us. I wont let them take Ben.

Chewie moaned his agreement and a question. _What do you intend to do then?_

"We will train," Ben answered the Wookie, " and prepare for what is to come."

*****

The next few weeks passed quickly. Chewie and the droids were given the officer's quarters next to Ben's, although it was instantly clear to the Wookie that Ben's quarters were for show only. Ben never slept in them, with Chewie noticing that Ben rarely even entered them and then it was only to collect something and return to Rey. Although there was rarely any overt affection in front of the Wookie, the relationship the two shared was obvious. It was, in some ways, a painful reminder of his smuggler best friend and the princess.

A daily routine quickly set in. Ben and Rey were up, running the halls of the residential level before showering and taking breakfast in their quarters. They would usually visit the training hall, sparring with droids, GRC or each other. Anakin largely gave pointers on technique, finding little to complain about either, and pointed out ways each could complement the skillset of the other. The two Force users would generally return to Rey's quarters to shower and eat lunch. Ben had quickly acquiesced to LD-2ZY on the matter of feeding the couple given their new busy schedule, although Ben was quite insistent on overseeing LD's menu for each day to ensure Rey had adequate protein and calories. She had certainly filled out since they had first met, especially since she had come to the old Imperial base, but Ben considered she was still far too thin and the intensity of their training required appropriate nutrition. His obsession with her health should have bothered Rey, but the intensity of his feelings and concern for her were welcome after spending her childhood largely alone and feeling unloved.

After lunch Rey usually meditated for an hour or two, or worked on the plan for her new sabers whilst Ben read the Jedi texts that Rey indicated had helped her with healing his grandfather's saber. Though the design for his current saber was initially necessitated but the unstable cracked crystal it suited his style of fighting. Ben was weary of the constant cries of pain his kyber crystal and intended to try healing it as Rey had hers, but he wanted to keep the side ports that he had become accustomed to.

Later in the afternoon they would descend to the upper levels of Project Vahl, where a training course had already been set up during Rey's childhood for her clone sisters. Rey could vaguely recall running the course, but was fairly certain the memory was not her own but one shared by her sisters. The memory had proved useful as repairs were obvious to Rey, and Ben had been impressed by her engineering know-how over a lifetime of scavenging. She had easily identified broken wiring and damaged control boards, and the repaired course was certainly challenging. And once up and running, a large number of the opponents on the course were holographic, useful when both Rey and Ben had a propensity to destroy training droids.

Eventually, as day grew to night, Ben and Rey would retire to their quarters. Chewie would frequently join them for the evening meal, and Ben would sometimes take over cooking the meal with LD's assistance. But Ben's favourite part of their busy day was always the hours before sleep. Sometimes Ben would sit on the large armchair in the sitting area just of the kitchen, a book in one hand a the other slowly stroking Rey's back as she dozed on his lap. Other evenings they would meditate together, or Ben would teach her Sabaac. But almost every night would end with Ben worshipping Rey's body, Rey slowly learning what gave him pleasure as well, before they finally lay spent against each other, the sheets twisted around them.

Rey had never thought she would ever feel so wanted. And whilst the attention and focus of the Resistance had been unbearable, the adoration and love in Ben's eyes was _everything_.

Mentally and emotionally she was still healing from the revelations of Project Vahl, and both Anakin and Ben had been patient with her. She had forgiven Anakin for withholding the knowledge of who she really was, it was difficult to accept that she had been with her Master for so long without the truth. Ben had been less forgiving, tearing into Anakin the first morning Rey had actually returned to training.

 _"Damned secrets in this family"! Ben roared at his grandfather. "When has it_ ever _called anything but trouble?"_

_Anakin had the grace to look somewhat ashamed._

_"If you hurt her again I'll find someone of resurrecting you just so I can kill you myself."_

_Rey had been both horrified and strangely comforted by the idea._

But over time, both had come to understand somewhat. It wasn't exactly a conversation you have with your Padawan on their first day, and Rey was honest enough with herself to admit that she probably would have run from the base and never looked back had the first thing Anakin mentioned be "by the way, you're the product of a failed science experiment". He hadn't even told her who he really was the first day. And overall Rey was grateful Ben had been there to help her when the Force finally led her to her past.

Both of them were grateful for this period of healing. Chewie spent time with them most days, whether watching them in the training hall, or taking a meal with them. A few afternoons Ben and Rey had forgone their usual afternoon routine to spend time in the hangar and work on the Falcon with the Wookie. BB-8 and R2 had stolen every bit of data they could, thick as thieves as they wandered all over the base, but Rey found she simply didn't care. R2 was smart enough to keep the information about Project Vahl to himself, and BB-8 had already decided he would be staying with Ben and Rey.

And it was oddly unexpected, but BB-8 had taken a profound liking to Ben Solo. The droid had chattered away in binary to Ben, initially still suspicious of the former Supreme Leader, but Ben had answered honestly and simply each question put to him. To Rey, it seemed that BB-8 had a far better understanding than most people would of what had lead to the rise of Kylo Ren, and whilst he had been particularly affronted on the matter of Snoke's treatment of Ben he also seemed to understand Ben's lifetime sense of rejection and abandonment. And when Ben told the droid Poe had basically been his only friend in childhood, the droid had trilled so sadly that Ben had found himself _consoling_ the sensitive little droid. It was right about this time that BB-8 decided he was moving in to their quarters.

The two droids and the Wookie were family, and whilst neither Rey nor Ben _needed_ anyone other than each other, having them on the base with them was something both enjoyed and were grateful for. But this wasn't a permanent fixture, and at some point they would have to start looking into the new threat the Kalee fleet posed. Anakin made it clear one morning, roughly a standard month after Chewie and the droids had arrived on Jakku, that Rey had unfinished business. Rey needed to complete her sabers, the final step in her Jedi training. And though Rey had vowed she was no Jedi, the sabers were still a task she needed to complete. 

_Especially_ since the alien fleet still sat at Kalee. In typical First Order fashion, Allegiant General Pryde grew tired of caution and waiting, and sent a small fleet to make contact. Reports came back that instead of contact, the alien fleet opened fire and annihilated the First Order vessels. 

Although Rey had all the kyber crystals she could ever need thanks to collecting the clone's weapons, like Eighty-four she is loathe to use the sabers themselves for parts. Which meant Ben and Rey would need to leave the base to obtain the necessary parts. Some parts, like the casings and circuitry she could likely scavenge from the starship graveyard. Others though, particularly the focussing crystals, would certainly require her to leave Jakku. The chances of those sorts of parts being found on the starships was low, nor would one of sufficient quality be like to appear at any of the market stalls in crater town. She recalled the trip to Batuu had orginally been planned for saber parts and intelligence on Ben's location, before she'd dropped out of hyperspace directly in front of the Finalizer. Given the ongoing First Order presence however, Batuu was probably not somewhere she should take the former Supreme Leader.

*****

Ben and Chewie watched as Rey spread the 12 sabers in front of her as she knelt on a blanket Eighty-four had spread on the floor of the training hall. Although they were similarly designed, each of the clones had developed uniquely individual personalities and tastes, and each saber had differences that reflected those personalities.

The kyber crystals of the sabers all responded to Rey - not only the source of the clones genetic material, but she had been the centre of the bond they had all shared. Nowhere near as powerful as the one she shared with Ben, they had nonetheless shared a forcebond the scientists had not expected and failed to understand. Each of the clones had selected their crystals with Rey still connected to them, each stone was as much hers and it was theirs.

Eighty-four, kneeling in front of Rey, had provided her a pair of crates. One larger, for the sabers to rest in, and a smaller crate for her to store the kyber crystals she had not chosen.

Rey had the sabers arranged in two rows of six between herself and Eighty-four, and Ben watched curiously as she swapped a few around. There was clearly an order, a pattern that they fell in to, a suspicion that was largely confirmed when Rey looked up from her task to Eighty-Four with one eyebrow raised questioningly. He pointed to two sabers that she had just swapped, and Rey returned them to her previous arrangement before Eighty-Four nodded confirmation.

Chewie muttered quietly to Ben, not understanding the significance of the ceremony nor having been informed yet of Rey's history.

"It's a _long_ story," Ben murmured back, "but to make it shorter, these sabers belonged to Rey's family."

Chewie gave a quiet huff of surprise that the girl he and Han had found stealing the Falcon had more family than just the parents who Rey had told them left her on Jakku.

After a moment, Rey took a deep breath, and picked up the left most saber from the closest row. She examined it for a moment, then using the Force floated the hilt before her and slowly unscrewed a pair of barely visible screws to expose the crystal chamber. Ben could vaguely hear a mournful hum from the crystal, and briefly felt the passing of the life that had held the saber. A soul that had been determined to protect Rey, and did not regret it's passing in service of a loved one. The crystal floated away from the chamber, and Rey closed the hilt again with the Force.

"Calleen" Rey murmured, dropping the hilt into her left hand and the crystal into her right.

Eighty-four nodded as Rey handed him the hilt, and after wrapping it in a piece of soft leather he packed the hilt into the larger case as Rey dropped the crystal into the other.

The same process occurred with the second hilt in the first row.

"Taya" Rey named the hilt.

It continued through each of the saber hilts, Ben hearing the muted mourning songs of each kyber crystal and feeling the passing of each of it's owners. He quickly realised that the names Rey spoke were the names of her clone sisters, but the order itself defeated him.

"Via"

"Shiráya"

"Dasha"

"Ceela"

"Br'lai"

"Pula"

"Aivela"

"Esne"

"Triakk"

"R'iia"

After the last hilt was placed in the larger crate, Eighty-four placed the lid and sealed the crate with four loud clicks as each seal was closed. Rey closed her eyes for a few moments in meditation, before seeking out Ben's gaze. She nodded, closed the smaller crate that held the crystals, before both she and Eighty-four rose to their feet each holding their respective crates. Eighty-four nodded to Rey and left with his crate, and Ben wandered over to Rey. Her eyes were shiny with tears and he could see from the expression on her face she was trying very hard to maintain her emotional control. 

Ben wrapped one arm around her shoulders and kissed the top of her hair.

"You okay, Sweetheart?"

She shrugged, but leaned into his embrace for a moment, seeking his warmth and the stability he gave her. Rey wanted to explain further, but felt reticent in the presence of Chewie.

"I think I need to rest," Rey apologised. "Can I say goodbye to you now Chewie? I don't really feel up to a goodbye down in the hangar."

Chewbacca wrapped both of them in a furry hug, patting Rey's back gently.

"One day, I will tell you about it Chewie," Rey sighed. "When you get back to the Resistance, give my regards to Leia. Let her know... well, let her know Ben makes me very happy."

*****

Ben watched Rey's sleeping form from the doorway for a few moments, before shucking off his boots and laying down next to her in their bed and resting her back against his chest. Rey sighed in her sleep, his presence always soothing her, and Ben kissed the nape of neck. He wasn't sleepy, but farewelling Chewie and R2 had reminded him of the importance they had both played in his childhood, and left Ben with an ache in his chest thinking about everything Snoke had taken from him, from Rey, and what he had become when the darkness was all he thought he was destined for.

No, he wasn't at all sleepy, but just holding Rey soothed Ben as well. 

_I love you_ , he thought into their bond, and despite her sleeping state he knew she could sense him.

Soon, they would have to wake and pack for their journey. Since they were likely to be travelling for a while, they had decided on a shuttle with some basic quarters rather than the X-wing or the Silencer. Although the shuttles on the base were all Old Imperial design, they were unmarked and there were enough privately owned floating around the galaxy that it wouldn't raise any eyebrows. They could have taken the Falcon, but Ben could sense that despite Chewie's assurances that all was forgiven there was still a degree of pain Ben's presence caused the Wookie. It was more that Ben reminded him far too much of Han Solo.

He wondered idly over the order in which Rey had salvaged the crystals from the twelve sabers. She must have heard him even in her sleep, because the next he knew an answered floated back to him across the bond. _It was the order in which they died._


	18. Ben Solo Must Be Some Powerful Jedi

Ben fretted aboard the shuttle, worrying whether Rey was safe as she picked her way through the forest to Maz's castle. Takodana should be safe enough, her face not as well known across the holonet as his own was, the best images the First Order had been able to obtain being a poor quality security capture from Starkiller and a shot of her usual X-Wing. However, the Cantina at any time was a hotbed of intrigue with spies of all loyalties randomly showing up and doubtless the First Order had someone there, so too the Resistance (if only to observe the First Order spies). Although good behaviour was Maz's number one rule, he had no doubt if the wrong person recognised Rey then an unwelcome presence would not be far behind.

After all, wasn't that how he had first set eyes on Rey himself?

 _You're practically shouting, Ben._ He could feel her roll her eyes at him through the Bond. _No-one will recognise me._

_But if they do?_

_They won't. But if they do, what does it matter? I'm not going to be there long enough for spies from whatever side recognises me to send reinforcements. It's just in and out, all we need is the contact from Maz._

Ben tried hard to push down his worry, but he couldn't entirely suppress it. Was it forewarning, or simple anxiety at being separated from Rey? Rey, who seemed to have no qualms herself? He should let it go, and yet....

He punched the back of the pilot's seat in frustration. BB-8 trilled a question at him

"I have a bad feeling about this...." Ben told the little droid.

Frustrated, Ben walked down the neck of the old Lamda Class Shuttle into the main compartment. Once a small cargo and passenger transport, this particular vessel had been modified to provide a very small living and workspace instead. The old cargo holds, seating and head had been removed to provide space for a small kitchenette, seating area, fresher and bedroom space. The old equipment storage in the neck had been fitted as a small workpace for Ben and Rey to use, and Ben briefly considered working on his saber but decided he was too worked up to focus. Instead, he settled himself into the small couch with one of the Jedi texts and a cup of caf, and tried not to project his worries to Rey. 

BB-8 rolled around the cabin aimlessly for a while, poking into corners, before deciding to fine tune the environmental controls after noting the oxygen scrubbers were only working at 99.82%. BB-8 was certain he could achieve 100% efficiency on the scrubbers. Ben and Rey deserved nothing less.

*****

"It's good to see you again, young Rey," Maz greeted her quietly as she slipped into the booth Rey had been occupying for only a few minutes. With her dark jumpsuit, dark cloak and hood, and quiet demeanour, she was not recognisable; but Maz had picked her Force signature up before she had even entered the castle.

"Maz," Rey inclined her head politely.

The old woman peered at her, face scrunched thoughtfully. "I see you found your belonging, girl."

Shadowed though her face was by the hood of her cloak, Maz was able to pick up the small twist of Rey's lips into a smile.

"Ben says you have a contact for me? Someone with access to the pieces I need?"

Maz pursed her lips, surveying the young woman before her. Though it had barely been a year since she had first laid eyes on the girl, it was obvious she was no longer the frightened young desert dweller just beginning to feel the Force. There was power there, far more than she should shoulder in such a short period of time. Pain, sadness, grief. Darkness such that a Jedi should not carry, yet also light beyond what any Sith would survive. Joy, love, and a sense of completion.... there was more here than could be held in one person.

"You and young Solo are _bound,_ " Maz murmured wonderingly, realising she was looking at half of a pair in the Force.

"Huh?"

"In the Force! You are _bound in the Force."_

Maz shook her head slightly to clear it. Though she had lived for over a thousand years, and met many Force users, Maz had never met a soulbound pair. Luke and Leia had come close to this sort of bond, with a deep connection as twins, but were not soulmates. Ben and Rey however, were a true _dyad._ This would be worthy of further contemplation later, but for now there was the task at hand. She looked over her shoulder and inclined her head towards a short, black and gold helmeted figure in a dark green flight suit with dark black boots, accompanied by a black square droid not dissimilar to an old Imperial mouse droid, just slightly larger.

There was only one person in the galaxy it could be, even without the familiar force signature.

" _Rose,_ " Rey breathed happily, as Maz slid away from the booth and the helmet figured replaced the old pirate.

The young engineer flipped open the visor of her helmet, dark black-brown eyes reproachful.

"You didn't even say goodbye."

Rey swallowed uncomfortably. Of all the people in the Resistance, few had made her feel truly welcome for herself rather than her abilities. Rose had been among those precious few, and mourning her sister as she had been Rey had felt incredibly guilty abandoning her friend.

"I'm sorry, Rose. But I couldn't stay. I felt...."

"Suffocated?"

"Kinda, yeah," Rey admitted. "I was supposed to be this great Jedi, the answer to Kylo Ren and the First Order and..... well I'm just _me._ "

Rose raised one eyebrow.

"Rumour has it you're _with_ the First Order and Kylo Ren."

"Ben Solo killed Kylo Ren," Rey hedged, "and I am with _Ben Solo_."

Rey supposed it was true, from a certain point of view, but Rose was well aware Ben Solo and Kylo Ren were the same person. As for the rumour that the two of them were with the First Order - well the First Order was still calling a bounty on her on the holonet and the holonet news only that morning had Kylo Ren listed as missing (with Rey as the suspected abductor).

"Come _home_ Rey," Rose implored, "Leia misses you. We can help you. _Both_ of you."

Rey shook her head, and Rose sighed deeply.

"Do you have the details for the parts I need?"

"Better yet, I have most of them," Rose grinned back at her. "MSE-63E here has them."

Rose leaned down to open up the small droid's hatch and pulled out a small wooden box.

"I have crystals that Leia says once refined will be perfect for focussing, and Leia was also able to provide you with the field energizers. However, diatium power cells are not exactly easy to come by."

Rey shook her head. If she really needed to, she could harvest power cells from the dozen sabers she had... but it didn't feel _right_. And something told her one day she would need more than a dozen diatium cells.

"Leia said she has a crazy idea for the power cells," Rose murmured. "Inside the box is a data chip with coordinates an Identicard for each of you for wherever it is you are going. I don't know where it is so don't ask me."

Maz wandered back by their table looking rather innocent, and dropped off two drinks. 

"On the house," the old pirate mentioned quietly, "and just so that you know, there's a pair of bounty hunters who have taken a rather acute interest in our Rey here."

Rose took a quick sniff of her drink. Corellian brandy. She downed it in one gulp, an idea coming to her that would require more than a little bravery and quick thinking.

"How quickly can you get your dark lord here?"

"It took me less than a half hour to walk here, but Ben's a fast runner, why?"

Rose gripped her blaster in one hand, and her taser in the other, as two mercenaries in a strange hodgepodge of assorted broken Mandalorian armour approached them.

"The best distraction I know of in a place like this is a bar fight," Rose muttered grimly, dropping the visor of her helmet to cover her face, then sliding around onto the same side of the booth as Rey.

The taller of the two, a woman, had a long dirty grey cape streaked with mud and other things Rey didn't particularly want to think about. Her partner, a shorter and slightly plump male, had better kept armour and bright red cape, but remained in the background and said nothing.

"Von Vanari," the woman introduced herself. "My associate here is Dax. Don't say much on account of the Hutts cut his tongue when he was a child."

Dax merely nodded.

"You have something I want."

Vanari pointed at Rey.

"This one is Rey of Jakku, the last Jedi. She has a price on her head from the Supreme Leader of the First Order himself. Kylo Ren wants her alive, and is offering one point five million credits."

 _Kriff_. Planning the trip to Takodana, Rey and Ben had considered spies for the First Order or the Resistance, but neither of them had considered the bounty on her head or someone coming to collect it. After all, the First Order wasn't supposed to have any footage clear enough to identify her. Suddenly, Rey felt incredibly stupid ignoring Ben's concerns as she had walked towards the castle.

Rose breathed in deeply, then raised her blaster and nuzzled it into the neck of her friend.

"Well then, I guess that changes things, doesn't it?"

*****

Despite the caf, which was a particularly strong blend Rey liked to refer to as "Jungle Juice", Ben was starting to drift off as he read this particular text. It was dry, and the author was nothing if not a bit pompous, and with each blink of his eyes Ben had found it had taken longer for his eyes to open again. Couple with whatever it was BB-8 was doing to the environmental controls, making the cabin decidedly warmer....

"Master Yoda did say 'Page turners, they were not'", Luke noted, "although do try _not_ to spill your caf on them."

" _Kriffing hell"_

Ben dropped the book onto his lap as the caf mug clattered loudly onto the small side table. He stared at the ghostly image of his Uncle, leaning against the wall of the hull nearby.

"What in all the _hells_ have I done now to deserve you torturing me again," Ben grumbled at Luke, narrowing his eyes with just the faintest hint of old hurt.

"Just dropping in to let you know you're about to get called in to action," Luke shrugged his shoulders. "What I've learned in all my years around Solo's.... when they get a bad feeling about something, they're usually right."

"Rey...." Ben gulped, a half squeak, half croak, and was on his feet and headed out of the living quarters of the shuttle almost before he had stopped speaking. 

Ben called his saber and blaster to him, securing them to his hip, grabbing his cloak from the hook by the ramp and slamming the security code into the keypad before swiping his fingers over the bioscanner to confirm his identity as he raced towards the castle. He had been running for a good three or four minutes before a familiar buzzing in his ears like running water and a prickling at the base of his skull. Ben stopped dead in his tracks and looked around.

He was still in the forest, he knew that. Ben could still see the trees, the filtered forest light, so similar to the day he had first met and fought Rey just over a year before. Yet at the same time he could see her beloved face, pale and with a blaster drawn at her neck. He could also see the black and gold helmeted creature in a dark green flight suit that held her, both of their bodies disappearing behind a fern at about the level of Rey's hips and he could hear Rey and this creature speaking to some other party that Ben could not hear.

"This is _my_ bounty," the creature, a woman, spoke. "So _back off!"_

Rey looked directly at Ben.

"I'm already coming for you Rey," Ben told her.

The bond closed, and Ben started running again.

*****

Despite the vulnerable position Rey found herself in, she didn't sense any ill intent from Rose. Infact, lightly skimming the edges of her friends mind, she realised Rose was looking for vulnerabilities in the armour of the two mercenaries, places to potentially get a shot in with her blaster. Rose was stalling for time.

Rey too was considering her options. She knew that Mandalorian armour was supposed to be resistant to lightsabers, at least if it was made of beskar. However after the Imperial era beskar was hard to come by, and Rey was aware that some Mandalorian armour was of decidedly lesser quality. Even so, a fight with these two had the potential to deteriorate into an all out brawl with a pack of willing drunks that might involve a lot of innocent people - something Maz would not appreciate and Rey would rather avoid.

"It seems we are at something of an impasse," Rose told Vanari softly. "The credits are for a live bounty, and if you don't let me take her without interference, I will shoot."

"You don't have it in you," Vanari replied coolly, taking the seat opposite Rose. "I doubt you've ever even killed an animal for food."

Dax made a strange choking sound, and Rey realised it was a laugh. 

"You're no bounty hunter," Vanari told Rose scornfully. "You're soft and weak and I can take her from you easily."

"Just try it," Rose gritted out, pressing the blaster into Rey's neck for emphasis, "and you'll see just how far I'm willing to go."

 _How far are you Ben?_ Rey threw out across their bond.

_Two, maybe three minutes more. I just passed the place I landed my shuttle last time I was here._

"It doesn't matter anyway," Rey informed the group, raising her chin and staring at Vanari. "You do realise that not only do you have to deliver me alive, a questionable prospect at the moment given there's a blaster at my neck, but you also have to deliver me to Kylo Ren?"

The Mandalorian mask inclined in Rey's direction, and Rey continued on.

"You clealry haven't paid attention to the news. He hasn't been seen for months."

"General Hux then," Vanari replied sharply.

"Missing too."

"What do you mean, _missing too_?"

" _Kylo Ren_ isn't the Supreme Leader anymore," Rey dropped the bombshell. "The First Order has been keeping it quiet, but _Ben Solo_ killed Kylo Ren. Why do you think the ship was crippled near Batuu? Hux and most of the Supreme Council were captured too. I should know, I was there on the Finalizer, and I escaped with _Ben Solo!"_

While Vanari stared for a moment in genuine shock, Rey grabbed Rose's taser and jumped up from her seat at the booth and on to the table. In one quick motion she was squatting next to Vanari and had the taser shoved into a gap she had identified in the shabby fabric of the neck of her outfit, the current from the taser entering the mercenaries body and rendering her quickly unable to function. Rose meanwhile had aimed her blaster at Dax, who made no move either to surrender or attack. And it was at that moment that Rey realised her hood had flown back, and her movement had identified her as something _unusual_.

And in a cantina full of slightly inebriated scoundrels, their faces all looking in her direction, and with a one point five million credit bounty on her head.

 _"Oh kriff_."

It was at that moment Rose Tico was grateful for the sight of something she never thought she'd _ever_ be grateful for.

Kylo Ren's red cross guard lightsaber. Dax took one look at it, and wisely bolted.

Rose grabbed at Rey's arm, pulling her down from the table, and yelled at her friend as she pointed over at the new arrival.

"Time to go!"

Rose grabbed the wooden box, and madly motioned to the possessed looking man who had just burst into the cantina.

"BEN SOLO!" hollered Rose. "This way."

A half dozen patrons had started to make their way towards Rose and Rey, and Rey shoved Rose behind her protectively. Rey shoved Rose's taser on top of the box, grabbed her blaster from one hip and her saber from the other, and with a slight thrill and a steady hum the blue saber burst to life just in time to block a series of blaster bolts aimed directly at the two young women..

Ben's long legs and a small amount of help from the Force had him flipped over the bar and onto a table near the two ladies in a few moments, and from there the rest of the patrons in his way wisely scattered to allow him through. Bens face was set in an angry scowl towards the party of pirates firing blasters towards Rey and Rose. They were a motley assortment of humanoids, a Lasat, a few humans, and even a Togruta.

"I thought Maz made it clear that in here there is _no fighting,"_ Ben snarled, twirling the saber behind him, "or do I have to enforce the rules?"

"We just want the girl," it was the angry Lasat that spoke for the group, pointing his blaster at Ben this time. "What is she to you?"

Ben easily blocked the bolt the Lasat fired at him, throwing it back into the Lasat's shoulder.

""She's everything," Ben replied simply.

He raised the saber high as if he were about to throw it, and the Lasat and his party shrunk back slightly.

"Why aren't you running," Ben asked curiously, raising one eyebrow. 

The Lasat and his friends did not require a second invitation. 

In the meantime, one particularly drunk and belligerent scoundrel, a green skinned Twi'lek, decided to stand in front of Rey, peering at her owlishly in surprise as he pointed at Ben. Their loud interchange was heard across the entire cantina.

"Hey.... hey... hey, lady.... isn't... isn't... hey. That's... that's Kylo Ren's sword."

"It _was_ Kylo Ren's sword," Rey warned him. "Ben Solo killed Kylo Ren."

"Wow. Wow. Oh wow," the drunk shouted. "Somebody killed Kylo Ren? That's impossible! Ben Solo must be some powerful Jedi."

"Indeed."

And he collapsed drunk in front of Rey's feet.

Ben sidestepped him and narrowed his eyes at Rose, who lifted her visor and grinned at him.

"I take it she's _not_ what she appears," Ben muttered to Rey.

"Hi," Rose introduced cheerfully, "I'm Rose Tico, and your mother sent me!"

Ben rolled his eyes slightly, but noted the unconscious mercenary slumped at the booth and the nod from Rey was enough to tell him Rose was not the enemy he originally thought.

"Okay, time to go, Sweetheart," Ben informed Rey.

They both shut off their sabers, urging Rose infront of them and headed towards the rear of the building where Maz had a door into a rear courtyard and a path out to the lake.

The three of them were out the back door and pounding along the paved path in a matter of moments, although there was no need to run. Although drunk and scoundrels, and despite the size of the bounty on Rey's head, it seems nobody as stupid enough to chase after a doubtful collection from a supposedly dead Supreme Leader for a bounty apparently protected by a powerful Jedi.

*****

"I think we can stop running now," Rose whimpered after about ten minutes, a stitch in her side and her lungs heaving. 

They stopped, and Ben reached out with the Force to sense for any dangers, and then chuckled.

"Nobody's following us. Nobody even left the Cantina."

Rose sat down with a thud, putting the box to one side and pulled off her helmet to rest it on top of the box. Ben and Rey sat beside her to also take a rest, Ben stretching out his long legs and Rey dropping down in front of him to nestle between them and lean back into his chest.

"Why did you ever wear something like that day after day, Solo."

Ben raised one eyebrow, and Rose pointed to her helmet.

"Custom - the Knights of Ren don't show their faces. Snoke didn't want people knowing Ben Solo was Kylo Ren. I didn't want people knowing Kylo Ren was Ben Solo. I didn't want people seeing my emotions. Vader wore a mask, and I wanted to be like Vader. All of those reasons, and none of them. Take your pick."

"Ugh, you're so complicated."

Rey chuckled.

"He's really not, Rosie," Rey told her as Ben wrapped one arm around her waist and rested his chin on the top of her head.

Rose stared at the two of them. She had never thought she would ever see Kylo Ren touching another person with such gentleness, in such a tender way... but then this _wasn't_ Kylo Ren, was it? Rey, had told Rose Kylo Ren was dead, and yes whilst physically Ben Solo and Kylo Ren inhabited the same body the person who Kylo Ren had been was not Ben Solo.

She wondered what had happened that had caused this sudden shift. What had made Ben Solo, the beloved son of her General and Han Solo to become Kylo Ren in the first place? Could he become Kylo again? Or was this shift back to Ben Solo permanent? Rey looked so happy with Ben, but was she safe with him? Would he stay Ben Solo, or was this a temporary switch and was the monster that had brutalised hundreds of systems and terrorised her friends, tortured Rey herself, merely sleeping until he rose again?

She realised Rey was talking to her

"Rosie?"

"Huh?"

"Can we walk you to your ship," Rey asked again.

"Oh, um, no that's fine. I want to give you guys time to get out of the system before I signal Poe and Finn to come pick me up. Leia didn't want Poe or Finn knowing anything about this, so Chewie actually dropped me off here on his way to Kashyyk. You could say he's permanently retired, and so has the Falcon."

Rey rose to her feet, as did Rose, and the two friends embraced as Ben hauled himself to his feet and grabbed the wooden box. It looked comically small in his hands compared to when Rose had been carrying it as they ran through the forest.

"It was good to see you again Rose," Rey murmured as she hugged her friend goodbye.

"Give my regards to my mother, Rose," Ben said to Rose when the two young women separated.

"It was interesting to meet you," Rose replied, and then a fierce look came onto her face. "But if you hurt Rey, I don't care how powerful you are. I will hunt you down and kill you myself."

Ben's eyes widened at the small woman. Somehow, he believed every word she said.

"Duly noted, Rose Tico."

He held out his hand to her, and they shook on it.

*****

On the outer rim, at a cantina in Mos Eisley, a green skinned Twi'lek staggered into one of his favourite bars having just arrived on a transport from Takodana.

"D'you heared the news man? D'you heared it? Kylo Ren is dead!"

"You're full of it Arra. If that was true it would be all over the Holonet," one of the patrons, an ancient one armed Aqualish called back.

"Nah, it's true," Arra insisted, "I just came from Takodana and seen his sword."

"What are you talking about," the bartender queried dismissively, "Kylo Ren was fighting with it there?"

"No, that's the, that the thing," slurred Arra, "the man that killed the Supreme Leader was using it."

Multiple voices questioned Arra at once. " _WHAT!!"_

The bartender passed him a cup of Corellian spiced brandy.

"Yeah," Arra slurred after taking a large gulp of his drink. "I met him my very self.... and the Jedi Rey. His name is Ben Solo and she said he killed Kylo Ren."

The bartender shrugged.

"Ben Solo must be some powerful Jedi then."

"That's what I said," Arra muttered drunkenly.


	19. Rising Darkness

_His home was the Unknown Regions, and he was the last of his kind. An adept in the dark side of the Force, he was a Sith Lord of immense power, but one who had remained hidden for centuries, following a sect of the Sith Order that predated the Rule of Two. Not that it had mattered before the dyad._

_Darth Sidious had not foreseen the dyad, despite the signs. He had the audacity to proclaim himself Sith Emperor, yet failed to truly understand the prophecies or the will of the dark side. It had been to his detriment, focussing on Vader and his son, Luke Skywalker. Despite his clever planning and plotting, Sidious never realised there was a greater power to follow._

_Snoke could only find the first of them, the grandson of Vader, the man who had ultimately destroyed Sidious._ _Snoke's malignant glee at the birth of Ben Solo was tempered only by the knowledge that there was no sign of the other half of the dyad. Still, he sunk his mind into Ben Solo's and slowly corrupted his soul, waiting for the other half. He would wait almost another decade before the signs indicated the other half's birth was imminent._

_In the interim, Snoke took control of Sidious's loyalists that fled to the unknown regions, all the while continuing his corruption of Solo from afar. The boy was all but his, and whilst he had thought to perhaps have the child brought to him sooner Snoke had no taste for the raising of children. Far better that Skywalker train the boy, with Snoke still buried in his mind, and then he could complete the child's corruption at a time that suited him._

_Meanwhile, he had found the other half of the dyad. Born on the same day as the boy, exactly ten years apart. The symmetry of the Force was remarkable._

_Again he bided his time, not wanting to raise a child. Oh but_ this _child. She was equal to Solo in the Force, but had been open to it from birth. There were still limitations on Solo, imposed by those who raised and trained him. But the girl.... those who raised_ her _had allowed her to be all that she could. And yet, unlike Solo, he could not truly touch her mind or locate her. All Snoke could grasp from the Force regarding her was the sense of her power. From Solo, already bonded to her through the force, he saw further but still not_ enough.

_They were both still children, especially the girl, but he wanted them with him now. He realised now that they needed to be trained together to reach their full potential. Solo he was convinced he could grab at any time, but he needed to find the girl. All he knew, from the little Solo's own visions and dreams could show him, was that she was amongst a remnant of Imperial loyalists._

_From there, it was simple to extract the information from the loyalists in his own ranks. They had been Sidious's Contingency, a force that promised to rise from the ashes of the Empire to create a new, pure order, and destroy the galaxy should it not bend to their will._ _Eventually, he found someone who knew about the project, and the secret base. Brendol Hux, a man who had knowledge that had been useful, but an ego and ambition that was a problem. He ran the Contingency, and Snoke let him think he was still in charge all the while manipulating Brendol Hux to do Snoke's bidding. Snoke had already manipulated his bastard son, Armitage, who was now wholly Snoke's creature. It was simple to own him, with the younger Hux being regularly abused by his father he had responded positively to any small kindness or praise that Snoke bestowed him._

_Brendol often bragged of his own importance to the Empire and his involvement in the secrets of the Empire when degrading his own son as a lesser man. So when he mentioned the existence of a secret base that had survived the Battle of Jakku, Armitage had mentioned it to Snoke. It was simple, really, to drag the knowledge from Brendol once Armitage revealed the secret. He wanted to kill the man for his disloyalty, but ultimately wiped Brendol's memory of the interrogation and the base itself. After all, Brendol was still useful, running the military so that Snoke could focus on the dyad and consolidate his power. So he could take the girl and Solo into his custody and turn them into the ultimate weapon in Snoke's plan to rule._

_He would take the girl first, and then draw Solo to him._

_It did not go to plan, with all of his force sensitive acolytes killed either by the girls protectors, or the girl herself. Snoke himself had barely escaped with his life, a terrible wound to his skull and his face twisted and partially melted. The power she put forth that day had never been seen before, and he wondered why Solo had never released the same. They were, after all, supposed to be equal in the Force. Perhaps Skywalker had been able to place limits on him._

_But the knowledge gained inspired another plan. The clones of the girl were not equal to her power, but were powerful enough he supposed. He was the last of his kind, but his species were naturally strong in the Force. Could he replace his acolytes with clones of his own? As for the dyad.... he felt the disturbance in the force when she released that power. The deaths of so many, and he certainly could not feel her in the Force any longer. He was certain the girl was dead, for he could no longer sense her, and the dyad destroyed._

_Yet Solo would still be useful, a powerful apprentice and taking him from Skywalker was a necessary blow to the light side. Skywalker was still a threat to Snoke, taking Solo would break Skywalker's spirit and ensure the only threat to the rise of the new Sith order would be too weak to defeat them._

_*****_

Allegiant General Enric Pryde, de facto leader of the First Order, was an adequate General. He supposed he was even an adequate interim Supreme Leader but he had no ambition to rule. The loss of Ren was a blow to the Order he feared they may not recover from easily.

He sighed as looked out over the bridge of the Steadfast. Pryde had held hope that Ren would bring a new order to the galaxy, a new Empire such as those under Palpatine. He had seen the end of the faded and corrupt Republic, and whilst freedoms had been sacrificed for Palpatine's rule it was a system far less open to corruption than what had come before it. Under Ren, the First Order had been even more promising, but now.....

Now it was all collapsing. Rumour had it Kylo Ren was dead. Killed by a young Jedi avenging the death of Skywalker's apprentices and his academy, by young Ben Solo himself if the rumours were true! Pryde snorted bitterly as he read the latest datapad. He knew full well the true identity of one Kylo Ren, though he doubted anyone else who sat on the Supreme Council knew the crown prince of the lost planet of Alderaan was the feared Jedi Killer.

Still, the rumours had one side benefit he had not foreseen. Once news reached the ship, Cardo Ren had presented himself to the Pryde.

"The Knights of Ren serve only the Master of the Knights of Ren."

"Your Point, Master Cardo?" Pryde rasped backed, bored.

"If Kylo Ren is dead, we are leaving the First Order."

Pryde shrugged indifferently. If they were fools enough to think Kylo Ren was truly dead, perhaps they might chase after they man they thought had killed him - his true identity, Ben Solo. If nothing else, the clash would get the Knights out of his hair and out of the Order. Somehow, he doubted Solo had much to fear from the Knights themselves.

*****

They landed the freighter in the small landing bay of an inner freight courtyard of a vast building complex that had seen better days. It was, Rey thought, a very ugly facility with a vast squared central building topped with four outer spires surrounding a fifth inner, taller spire that immediately made her feel nauseated. In fact the entire planet set her on edge. It nothing but a vast city, not a single speck of green or blue or any other of the beautiful colours Rey had come to associate with life and harmony and as they approached the planet there was a sense of grim harshness, pain and bitterness about it. Coruscant, Ben told her grimly.

Once a vast metropolis and the sprawling centre of the galactic republic followed by the Empire, it had been set aside following the days of the Empire. First for Ben's own home planet of Chandrilla, then following on from there for the new Republic home of the now destroyed Hosnian sector. Now, Coruscant was under open rebellion against the First Order and subject to bloody open gang warfare. It did make their excursion to their current location, the former Imperial Palace, somewhat easier however, since it was not controlled by First Order forces but held by allies of the Republic remnants - i.e. by his mother's extended friends.

"Why exactly is your mother sending us here?" Rey frowned in the co-pilots seat as the ship set down in the inner courtyard of the palace.

"Probably because long before the Emporer took this place as his palace, it was the Jedi Temple. There's likely to be quite a lot of useful items still stored here."

BB-8 let out a long and noisy series of chirps.

"Well yes BB-8," Ben huffed, "I _did_ actually known that it was a Sith temple first."

 _"WHAT."_ Rey scowled at them both.

BB-8 beeped cheerily.

"Oh I definitely think that's important information the two of you should have told me _before_ we landed."

Rey jumped out of her seat and stomped back towards the back of the ship.

Ben looked down at the droid.

"Thanks ball."

BB-8 trilled enquiringly.

"Yeah, I think she's pretty unhappy about it."

Rey had chosen a soft grey form fitting outfit with long pants and a shirt with long sleeves, designed to allow ease of movement and minimal restriction, but nothing to catch at her as they explored the site. Years of scavenging had taught her well. Ben had chosen similar garb, but in his usual black, and both wore protective, form fitting boots that reached just below the knee. Each had blasters strapped to their thighs, sabers at their waists, and various packs slung across their backs to carry back whatever spoils they decided need to be carried back with them. BB-8 rolled slowly behind them, sticking closely to Ben's heel.

The former Imperial Palace had been returned to the service of the New Republic and for a time served as kind of archive - hence the need for the Indenticards and chips that would provide them access to the building and its inner workings. However, with the shifting of the seat of power from Coruscant to Chandrilla and from thereon to the Hosnian system, the old facility was no longer in use and there were no sentients present. Instead, the entire facility was automated, and Ben held his breath for a few seconds as the first swipe card was run through the reader, waiting to be certain the promised access was granted. With a painfully loud creak the service door of the building began to slide open

"You doubted your own mother," Rey asked softly from behind him.

Ben shrugged. "You know the family history, Sweetheart."

They stepped into the service corridor of the building, and Rey felt somewhat deflated. She had always had some idea, some strange sense of what to do when she stepped on to an old wreck on Jakku, but here in this strange old place she was at a loss. Here, she was a scavenger who had no idea where to begin scavenging. 

"Where do we start, Ben?"

He leaned against the wall for a moment to ponder.

"I came here once, a long time ago, with Luke. As a Padawan. A lot of the archives and so on are stored lower down. Training rooms and so on were all repurposed by the Empire so I doubt we'll find anything in there, even if we could identify them now. I think out best bet would be to find a data port and get BB-8 to connect to it, get a list of what is stored in each of the archive rooms and go from there?"

Rey nodded. It sounded like a reasonable plan to her. In the meantime, they could work their way downwards toward the archive storage until they found a dataport for BB-8. Anything to get away from this place as soon as she could. It had a dark feeling to it she didn't like, and the sooner their errand here was over the better.

*****

Cardo Ren sat back in the Captains seat of the _Nightbuzzard,_ his long fingers steepled in thought as Vicrul Ren ran a series of checks on the ship's systems prior to entering light speed.

"So Pryde thinks Kylo is dead?" Vicrul finally acknowledged Cardo's mission.

Behind his mask, Cardo scowled. Although the expression went unseen, it coloured the tone of his next words.

"Of course not. Pryde knows Solo and Ren are one and the same. What I _was_ able to pick up is that he thinks _we_ don't know that. Snoke and Kylo obviously never shared the how Solo _became_ Kylo Ren with anyone."

Vicrul hummed quietly, but said nothing. He didn't really approve of secrets for their own sake, but Kylo's habit of partitioning certain information may certainly keep Kylo and his Jedi woman alive longer in this instance.

Cardo was the one to speak what all the Knights were thinking.

"If Solo has foresworn the identity of Kylo Ren, who is now Master of the Knights of Ren?"

Vicrul sighed.

"We need to find him first."

*****

BB-8 had found a dataport relatively quickly, easily locating the upper vaults and their contents. Saber parts, however, were proving quite a bit trickier to find given the archivists involved in creating the storage had little knowledge or interest in the construction of sabers, although BB-8 had promising leads in some of the deeper levels of the facility.

By agreement, they had entered some of the upper vaults first, with Ben selecting a few holocrons that complemented the books Rey had taken from Ahch-To. Some of the holocrons were obviously steeped in dark side energy, but Rey found this didn't particularly bother her. Balance, after all, required knowledge of both sides of the Force, but she was surprised when Ben refused to even pick one particular holocron up.

"The price of some knowledge is too high," Ben muttered, fingers skimming over it but refusing to actually touch it. "Can't you here that one whispering?"

Now that he had mentioned it, she _could_ hear a faint sibilant whisper. But more than that, she felt a pressure in her temples, a pricking pain that warned her to stay away from that particular item.

"I think it's probably best if we move on," Ben sighed after adding a few more of the storage devices to his satchel. "We can always come back and get more if we have time, but we'll never get to the lower levels if we keep searching these vaults. Everything in here is well catalogued, we can come back again later once we've searched further below."

Ben placed one hand to the small of her back to help guide her from the room, BB-8 leading the way, but even after they left the room with the dark holocron behind them, Rey found the ache in her temples remained.

In the deeper levels of the ancient temple, random collections of stored items labelled as "miscellaneous technology" netted them a wealth of items. Saber parts in plenty in the form of the elusive power cores and other difficult to source components, and dozens of saber hilts that had obviously been used by trainees. 

Rey filled her bags with the parts with all the glee of a scavenger who had set upon a bounty guaranteed to feed her for a month, ignoring the pressing headache and annoying hum in her ears. Ben smiled at her enthusiasm, picking slightly more carefully amongst the contents of the vault for more interesting items.

But her headache... Rey knelt for a moment, rubbing her temples with the first two fingers of each hand and stretching her neck from side to side. Ben noticed something was off, a vague sense of her discomfort settling across their bond.

"Are you okay?"

"Mmmm, just a headache. Let's take a break after this? I could use some water."

Ben nodded, his eyes attention drawn to a box of focussing crystals. Rey reached out to pick up one of the saber hilts, when suddenly time seemed to stop.

_She was no longer in the vault with Ben. Instead, she was in a high tower, in a round room filled with younglings who cowered behind furnishings as they hid. Rey did not know why they were hiding, but the children were frightened._

_She stood watching as the door slid open, and a tall figure in a dark robe entered the room. Anakin! Surely he would save them!_

_One of the children, a young boy, rushed forward to greet Anakin._

_"Master Skywalker! There are too many of them! What are we going to do?"_

_Anakin looked over a the child, a strange expression on his face - one at once full of both grief and determination. His saber ignites, and the younglings flinch from him._

_For a brief moment, she sees the child practicing saber forms with this blade. Anakin is one of the Master's who has taught him, along with a young Togruta woman who seems to be his apprentice. They've taken meals together, meditated together, and Anakin has even comforted this child once when he was ill._

_Once again, she snapped back to the room full of younglings, but this time Anakin has long departed and the room is full of small, bloodied bodies. Rey falls to her knees, reaching out to cradle the child to her chest._

"Rey!"

Kneeling on the floor of the vault, Rey opened the arms that had been drawn to her chest to hold the youngling to her. Her arms were empty, save for the training saber still held tightly in the grip of her right hand, and she dropped it suddenly to look in terror up at Ben. Overwhelmed by a sudden wave of nausea, Rey fell forward onto her hands and knees and retched violently, before collapsing to the floor.

Ben was by her side in only a few heartbeats, sitting on the floor beside her and pulling her in to his lap. He quickly assessed her, worried Rey might have had another seizure like the one when she had discovered Project Vahl, but she was conscious. Shocked by the vision the saber had shown her, crying and sickened by it, but she was with him. BB-8 rolled close to her on the other side of her head and trilled concernedly.

"Sweetheart?"

"This place, Ben. Such horrible things happened here. Anakin... he did such terrible things here..."

She reached out her hand to cup his face, but wouldn't show him what she had seen. 

"Do you think you can stand?"

Ben helped her to her feet, noticing the slight wobble and her slight frown of discomfort. He rested his forehead against hers questioningly, but she shook her head slightly.

"Headache," Rey explained, "I think that's upsetting my stomach a little too."

BB-8 squawked worriedly.

"No BB-8 I'll be alright. I just need some water. And I think it's probably best if we leave this place as soon as we can."

The small droid questioned Ben.

"Yes, you can be very helpful BB-8. The most helpful thing you can do right now is find us the fastest way back to the ship."

BB-8 squealed excitedly, and set off into the corridor outside the vault.

*****

_Snoke was no more after his young apprentice cut him down, and yet he lived on in the clones he commissioned after his encounter with the girl on Jakku._

_And what's more, the clone now leading his forces knew more than the feeble minded old Sith had, for Snoke's mind had become clouded by his defeat and had failed to see that the girl had in fact lived. She had hidden herself well, not even consciously knowing the Force until Ren had reawakened her, but to the new leader of the Dark Empire it was obvious the girl was the other half of the Dyad. She'd been there, all along, for the taking and Snoke had been too blind to see it._

_But now, the Dyad was together, and properly motivated and directed their power could be used to seize control of the galaxy and bring a new era of Sith power. The girl, especially, had such destructive potential. Though it was true that they were equal in the force, each had their own unique capabilities as well. He was physically stronger than her, whereas she could generate sheer destructive energy he could not. Or at least he had never evidenced it._

_And then ultimately, once they had brought the galaxy under control, their blood would create a powerful line of Force users that would keep the galaxy in check ongoing._

_It was nearly time. Soon, the fleet would set forth from Kalee and draw the attention of the Dyad. From then, it would only be a matter of time before the Dyad would restore the Sith to glory._


End file.
